Outspoken Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe has raged at the date of Australia Day and those who celebrate it.
With January 26 still more than two weeks away, Senator Thorpe sarcastically lambasted Australia’s national day.
‘Who’s celebrating invasion, murder and theft this 26th Jan?’ she wrote on Twitter on Sunday.
Senator Lidia Thorpe, here pictured during a Melbourne protest against the National Day of Mourning for Queen Elizabeth II, has once more hit out at January 26 as a date of national celebration
Senator Thorpe has long called for January 26 to be commemorated as a day of mourning for Indigenous dispossession
Vehement arguments soon appeared both for and against under the provocative tweet.
‘It is a long-standing tradition. Keeping Australia Day on the same day, January 26th, reinforces a sense of identity and pride in the nation, and also demonstrates the continuity and strength of the Australian spirit through the generations,’ one replied.
‘Changing the date could result in increased divisiveness and cultural tension. By keeping the same day for Australia Day, all Australians can come together to celebrate the nation’s history and pride, regardless of their cultural or ethnic background.’
‘This ‘country’ is built on racism and genocide – they are the values and symbols of Jan 26,’ someone quickly replied.
Australia Day continues to divide people on whether it is a day of celebration or of ‘mourning’ (picture stock image)
Veteran entertainer Kamahl, who was born in Malaysia, got in early to express his pride at taking part in the national day
Another well known Australian, who has been at the centre of a recent racism storm, was quick off the mark to embrace the national day.
‘I’m very, very much looking forward to being the Australia Day Ambassador for the City of Ryde,’ singer Kamahl tweeted on Thursday.
‘It has been a great privilege since 1990 when there were only 9 of us.
‘I hope to share what Australia means to me. What does it mean to you ? Please think about it.’
Kamahl recently had a social media spat with ABC radio host Phillip Adams who claimed cricket icon Don Bradman treated the Malaysian-born veteran entertainer as an ‘honourary white’ in showing friendship.
Adams, who had was on the warpath against Bradman over an admiring letter to written to the former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser, later deleted the tweet but refused to apologise.
Kamahl believes Phillip Adams is ‘nasty’ and that he can’t accept his success. (Kamahl is pictured with his ex-wife Sahodra in 2009)
Kamahl, referenced Bradman in his patriotic song ‘What is Australia to me?’, said he had enjoyed a long friendship with the cricketing icon, who Adams accused of not wanting to meet South African anti-Apartheid era leader Nelson Mandela.
Senator Thorpe has long called for a national day of mourning on January 26, which marks the day the First Fleet of British settlers arrived in 1788.
‘We can’t continue to celebrate a day that reflects a day deep hurt, loss and trauma,’ she said in 2021.
‘Are we celebrating the attempted annihilation of this country’s first people? Because that’s what it feels like.
‘Once we learn together what actually occurred, what this day represents, for all people who live in this country, then we can learn together, we can heal together, and we can come together to celebrate a day where we are united.
‘But we can’t continue this 26th of January flag waving event when half of the country is mourning.’
Senator Thorpe mocked and subverted the swearing in ceremony for the new parliament in August.
Senator Thorpe gave the Black Power salute on the Senate floor in August as she pointedly called Queen Elizabeth II a ‘coloniser’ during a swearing in ceremony
She marched onto the Senate floor giving a Black Power salute as she prepared to take her oath.
After raising her right fist, she inserted her own commentary into the oath about the late head of state Queen Elizabeth II.
‘I will be faithful and I bear true allegiance to the colonising Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second,’ she said in a mocking tone, before being reprimanded and reciting the oath as written.
During the national Day of Mourning for the late monarch in September, Senator Thorpe appeared on the streets of Melbourne covering her hands in fake blood and smeared it on a royal crest on a building.
‘The Crown has blood on their hands. Our people are still dying in this country every single day,’ she said.
‘The Crown’s boot is on our neck and we’re sick of it.’
