When is Australia Day 2020, and how is ‘Straya Day’ celebrated in London?
IF you have any friends from Down Under, you may have heard them chatting about Australia Day. Australia’s national day is on January 26 and is a huge celebration – but the event is much more than barbecues and fireworks. Here’s what you need to know. When is Australia Day? This year, Australia Day, also referred […]
IF you have any friends from Down Under, you may have heard them chatting about Australia Day.
Australia’s national day is on January 26 and is a huge celebration – but the event is much more than barbecues and fireworks. Here’s what you need to know.
When is Australia Day?
This year, Australia Day, also referred to as Straya Day, is being celebrated on Sunday, January 26 2020.
It is a public holiday, and is about national pride and achievements.
The holiday is marked by the presentation of the Australian of the Year Awards on Australia Day Eve (January 25), the Australia Day Honours list, and speeches from the Governor-General and Prime Minister.
In 2017, Perth’s annual fireworks display, which normally attracts crowds of 300,000 people, had to be cancelled after a plane plunged into the Swan River – killing both the pilot and his passenger.
In the capital of Australia, Canberra, the day is marked by a family-friendly Great Aussie breakfast and National Flag Raising and Citizenship Ceremony in the morning followed by a concert and fireworks later in the evening.
What is Australia Day commemorating?
Australia Day is the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet of 11 convict ships, sent from Britain.
On this day, in 1788, commander Captain Arthur Phillip famously raised the Union Jack in Sydney Cove – to signal their arrival.
The celebration has evolved and today people tend to celebrate the diverse society of Australia, its national history and community parties.
Why is Australia Day controversial?
Australia’s national day isn’t all beer and BBQs – for many it’s a painful reminder of death, disease and an almost eradicated culture.
The country’s indigenous population mourn on January 26, because tens of thousands of people were killed during the colonisation of Australia – due to disease, starvation and massacres.
“We see it as Invasion Day,” Warren Mundine, chairman of the Australian Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council, told CNN.
Because of this, there are often protests on the streets of Australia’s major cities.
A growing number of people are boycotting the celebration, and asking for another date to be chosen for Australia’s national day.
In 2019 Australian Labour politician Mark Latham has created an advertising campaign comparing the future of the country to a dystopian hell where people aren’t allowed to be proud of their national identity in fear of offending someone.
SBS reports: “In the ad, a girl is seen running over to her mother with a hand-drawn “Happy Australia Day” card.
“Her mother is shocked and asks: ‘Have you shown anyone else this, darling?’
“The daughter responds: ‘No, I just made it.’
“In the next scene, the mother is seen putting the card through the shredder.”
It’s a hotly debated topic, with some indigenous groups arguing for a new day and new holiday, and others insisting it should stay as it is.
In 2017, police and protesters clashed throughout Australia – and some parades turned violent.
Every year, Meat and Livestock Australia release an advert encouraging people to eat lamb on Australia Day, which adds further tension between some groups.
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How is Australia Day celebrated in the UK?
Most of the UK’s celebrations take part in London – where tens of thousands of Aussies now live.
Several events have been planned for the day in London, with many being turned into fundraisers after the bushfires that have been blazing through the country:
- A charity beer pong tournament in Stratford
- A pub crawl in Shoreditch
- A drag bottomless brunch at Revolution Bar Leadenhall
- A green and gold party and fundraiser with buffet dinner at Riley’s Haymarket
- An all-Australian line-up of stand up comedy in Bush Hall, Shepherd’s Bush
More events for Australia Day 2020 are available here.