The Hijacking of Australia Day

Alison Beverage Quadrant Online January 25, 2025
January 26 is not just Australia Day, it was the first settlement of Sydney. The First Fleet set up camp in Sydney Cove on 26 January, 1788. Eleven ships of British colonists and convicts hacked the beginnings of a modern city out of sandstone and bush. You would think City of Sydney Council might do some small thing to commemorate this, but there’s not an Australian flag or a Captain Arthur Phillip in sight.
The Council has given $2 million to celebrate Chinese New Year over 19 days of festivities instead. The Council calls it “Sydney Lunar Festival” as if it were home-grown instead of a Chinese cultural tradition more than 3500 years old, possibly emanating from the Shang Dynasty. Continue reading The Hijacking of Australia Day