Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I hope you had a wonderful Australia Day. But as with most things now in this great country, celebrating our national day seems to be considered somewhat controversial. It seems everyone in the world wants to come here, so there must be something good about it; but celebrating Australia openly and proudly—at least according to the activists—has become an almost bigoted transgression.
Luckily, we have politicians who still openly celebrate January 26. Take, for instance, Minister for Housing Clare O’Neil. Thank you to the viewers who highlighted her patriotism. On her Facebook page, the day before Australia Day, she proudly posted a nice “Happy Australia Day” message.
Hang on… that flag doesn’t look like the Australian flag. “Happy Republic Day”? I didn’t know we were a republic. She wrote: “Wishing all Australians of Indian heritage celebrating tomorrow a very happy India Republic Day!” What?! There were almost 7,000 replies to this post, with the first one pretty much summarising the sentiment: “January 26 is Australia Day in case you forgot.”
Let me just correct this picture. Ah, that’s better: “Happy Republic Day!”
The bizarre thing about this is that she specifically wrote “all Australians of Indian heritage.” Legally, to be an Australian citizen, Indian nationals must renounce their Indian citizenship. That means any of the Indian Australian people she’s referring to who weren’t born here have chosen to be Australian citizens over their former country.
I’m no logic professor, but wouldn’t that mean they prefer being an Australian citizen over an Indian one? So surely that means they, too, would celebrate Australia Day. Why would they become a citizen of a country they hate?
So, what the good minister should have written was: “Wishing all Australians celebrating tomorrow a very happy Australia Day!” That’s what you’d expect from an Australian politician, voted in by the Australian people, isn’t it? Although, then, we’d probably get commenters writing: “January 26 is also India Republic Day in case you forgot.”
I don’t know if this is relevant, but according to the latest Census data from five years ago, in Clare O’Neil’s electorate of Hotham in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, those born in India make up the largest group of residents born overseas. I’m sure it’s a complete coincidence that a politician would prioritise the national day of her largest migrant voting bloc over our own.
To be fair, Ms. O’Neil did post a picture of herself and a new Australian citizen on her Facebook on Australia Day. The new citizens were happily waving Australian flags, but Ms. O’Neil managed to remain conspicuously neutral—no flag in hand, no Australian pin on her lapel, and not a hint of green and gold in sight.
She also posted a video saying all the usual unprovable twaddle: “Australia is easily the most successful multicultural country in the world.”
Just ignore the fact that we had Australia’s deadliest terror attack last month at Bondi.
While we’re here, let’s see what our Supreme Leader, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, got up to on Australia Day. Of course, he issued a message congratulating India on its 77th Republic Day. Duh!
He kicked off the day by posting a video of himself covering himself in smoke until you couldn’t see him anymore: “We began Australia Day with a Smoking Ceremony, honouring the world’s oldest continuing culture.”
He then posted a video talking about Australia Day—of course, without an Australian flag pin or an actual flag in sight. Although, to be fair, his social media team did manage to include a tiny flag emoji.
Of course, I could go on and on. For example, on Instagram, Minister for Climate Change Chris Bowen was proudly wishing us a happy India Republic Day. Although, to be fair, he did preface it with: “In addition to celebrating Australia Day…”
So there you go. I think it’s clear where our leaders’ loyalties lie—firmly with the demographics who provide the most votes, the least amount of criticism, and the voters they’re actually scared of offending.
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
I hope you had a wonderful Australia Day. But as with most things now in this great country, celebrating our national day seems to be considered somewhat controversial. It seems everyone in the world wants to come here, so there must be something good about it; but celebrating Australia openly and proudly—at least according to the activists—has become an almost bigoted transgression.
Luckily, we have politicians who still openly celebrate January 26. Take, for instance, Minister for Housing Clare O’Neil. Thank you to the viewers who highlighted her patriotism. On her Facebook page, the day before Australia Day, she proudly posted a nice “Happy Australia Day” message.
Hang on… that flag doesn’t look like the Australian flag. “Happy Republic Day”? I didn’t know we were a republic. She wrote: “Wishing all Australians of Indian heritage celebrating tomorrow a very happy India Republic Day!” What?! There were almost 7,000 replies to this post, with the first one pretty much summarising the sentiment: “January 26 is Australia Day in case you forgot.”
Let me just correct this picture. Ah, that’s better: “Happy Republic Day!”
The bizarre thing about this is that she specifically wrote “all Australians of Indian heritage.” Legally, to be an Australian citizen, Indian nationals must renounce their Indian citizenship. That means any of the Indian Australian people she’s referring to who weren’t born here have chosen to be Australian citizens over their former country.
I’m no logic professor, but wouldn’t that mean they prefer being an Australian citizen over an Indian one? So surely that means they, too, would celebrate Australia Day. Why would they become a citizen of a country they hate?
So, what the good minister should have written was: “Wishing all Australians celebrating tomorrow a very happy Australia Day!” That’s what you’d expect from an Australian politician, voted in by the Australian people, isn’t it? Although, then, we’d probably get commenters writing: “January 26 is also India Republic Day in case you forgot.”
I don’t know if this is relevant, but according to the latest Census data from five years ago, in Clare O’Neil’s electorate of Hotham in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, those born in India make up the largest group of residents born overseas. I’m sure it’s a complete coincidence that a politician would prioritise the national day of her largest migrant voting bloc over our own.
To be fair, Ms. O’Neil did post a picture of herself and a new Australian citizen on her Facebook on Australia Day. The new citizens were happily waving Australian flags, but Ms. O’Neil managed to remain conspicuously neutral—no flag in hand, no Australian pin on her lapel, and not a hint of green and gold in sight.
She also posted a video saying all the usual unprovable twaddle: “Australia is easily the most successful multicultural country in the world.”
Just ignore the fact that we had Australia’s deadliest terror attack last month at Bondi.
While we’re here, let’s see what our Supreme Leader, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, got up to on Australia Day. Of course, he issued a message congratulating India on its 77th Republic Day. Duh!
He kicked off the day by posting a video of himself covering himself in smoke until you couldn’t see him anymore: “We began Australia Day with a Smoking Ceremony, honouring the world’s oldest continuing culture.”
He then posted a video talking about Australia Day—of course, without an Australian flag pin or an actual flag in sight. Although, to be fair, his social media team did manage to include a tiny flag emoji.
Of course, I could go on and on. For example, on Instagram, Minister for Climate Change Chris Bowen was proudly wishing us a happy India Republic Day. Although, to be fair, he did preface it with: “In addition to celebrating Australia Day…”
So there you go. I think it’s clear where our leaders’ loyalties lie—firmly with the demographics who provide the most votes, the least amount of criticism, and the voters they’re actually scared of offending.
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
