Changing the date isn’t the answer. The kind of people who are offended are not offended by the date, they’re offended by the celebration of modern Australia. Changing the date is just a convenient cover for their loathing of all things Aussie.

There’s lots that I’d like to say, but if I do I’ll suddenly be a ‘racist’, ‘bigot’, ‘intolerant’, and ‘abusing my privilege’. So instead, I’ll just link to the words of an Aboriginal woman who’s already said it better than I could anyway:

“Yes, let’s learn about our past and our history, but how is changing the date going to do a thing for the Aboriginal women dying at the hands of Aboriginal men, the Aboriginal children who miss out on school and an education and the Aboriginal children who are living in dysfunctional circumstances?” she wrote.

“I can bet you London to a brick they are not concerned with a date change. It is the Aboriginal middle class who are concerned about date changes and those pushing the agenda come from privilege themselves in comparison to the Aboriginal people who are the country’s most marginalised.”

Ms Price said if the date was changed, “there will be something else for the Aboriginal middle class activists and guilt-ridden white fellas to be offended about”.

She said the 2008 apology to Australia’s Indigenous people had not changed things for the better.

Click the link and read it all.

The change the date argument is a facade, and just like the demand for Rudd’s apology, the moment they get what they want they’ll just up the ante and demand more. Rudd’s apology has done nothing to bring healing, it’s just paved the way for the current push for a treaty or constitutional recognition. And if they get that, they’ll change their demands and never be satisfied, no matter how much they’re given.

So no, I don’t support changing the date. Not at all. It’s being demanded by people who will never be happy no matter what we do, so why should we care that they’re unhappy? As Jacinta Price points out, there are some very real problems which need to be addressed, and worrying about things like the date of Australia Day is a luxury that only middle and upper class people have the time or money to worry about. Social Justice is once again shown to be a plaything of the rich, much like socialism was a cause for the ‘doctors wives’ of the last century.

Australia isn’t perfect, and a great deal of my time and energy on this blog is spent pointing out the myriad of ways in which we’re failing. But on balance, and in context of the wider world, this is a pretty good place to be by most measures! I’m no fan of nationalism, being born here doesn’t make a person automatically better than someone born elsewhere, but we do have a pretty good culture (on balance and in context of the wider world) where people are given a fair go, we reward results and achievement with little regard for the persons age, gender, race, sexuality, or preference of beer, and there’s very little hate or hate crime here. I think all of that is worth acknowledging and lauding, with a view to continuing and improving on it.

The kind of self-hatred practiced by the ‘changers’ is only going to cause division, elitism, racism, prejudice, and ultimately the very hate crimes they’re denouncing. It’s not going to solve any existing problems, and giving in is only going to encourage more such pointless tantrums in future.

When children throw tantrums it’s vital they don’t get what they want. If the parents give in, they condemn themselves to a future of endless tantrums. The same is true of adult tantrum throwers and the professionally offended: Do. Not. Give. In.

So no, we don’t need to change the date. The ‘change’ supporters need to accept that history cannot be changed, and if you really want to make a difference there’s much that needs to be done in the present, so stop winging, and start working.

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