My reason for this letter is concern and disappointment for another January 26 to roll by with the audacity of calling itself Australia Day, when Captain James Cook claimed this land as empty and belonging to Britain.
How can that date be anything but a solemn reminder of our humble beginnings as a nation? I’d call it Federation Day. A day to honour and pay tribute to those who have and will shape Australia into a nation to be proud of, a day of ceremony where we lay to rest the pompous notion of terra nullius and mourn the stolen generations. A day where we acknowledge the terror and carnage of our history and where we remember with open arms the first of the boat people who arrived on these shores, wretched convicts transported from an unkind and uncaring mother country. Call it Sad and Sorry Day, call it Invasion Day but don’t call it Australia Day.
So when can we all have an Australia Day with a public holiday to party, to celebrate the joy of being Australian? There’s a date going begging if you ask me. With Liz gone (of course, if she was alive it wouldn’t be an option but she isn’t) I reckon the Queen’s Birthday is up for grabs because who in their right mind wants an Australian public holiday called the King’s Birthday? A bit of self-respect please, this is not a monarchy, we’ve fought long and hard to become a nation.
Let’s totally unite this wonderful land we have the good fortune to inhabit, let’s truly celebrate this country we call home and give Australia Day a new meaning with another date! I’m calling for everyone to join me in the quest for our own Australia Day revival.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
