Are You Ready To Celebrate On Monday?

[jitz]

It's that time of year again, the 26th of January - Australia Day. Woohoo!

The day the world stands still and celebrates Australia for who it is and where it's come. The first fleet arrived on Australian shores on January 26th 1788, so on Monday we will yet again celebrate the beginning of the Australia colonisation. The first official Australia took place 1818, and since then it's only got bigger.

So on Monday, remember to greet you friends with a "Happy Australia Day", you'll look very cultural and that line may infact score you vagina. Write in on your hand to remember it if you must. Think about me sitting back, having a BBQ, and getting drunk in the middle of the day; while your at work slaving away for the corporate machine. Think about how you'd like to escape your freezing winter, if only for the 26th of January, and lay back on a sandy Australian in 34 degree heat, watching the hot girls walk by in their ever shrinking bikinis, yes it's forcasted for a very very hot 34 - perfect for Australia Day beer and bbq...and perve.

Buy a flag, put on some face paint, even better, buy an Australian flag CAPE - I have one, it's awesome. Re-enact famous Australian moments throughout history. For example, if your British, walk around looking very defeated, as you re-enact the many many losses to Australian in the Ashes Series. If you're American, walk around not giving a fuck, as you re-enact the general American mindset throughout history of not giving a fuck about anyone else, and continue your 4th of July preperations.

Admins, feel free to show your support by bathing the board in the colours of Australia, the green and gold. Whack an Australian flag at the top to show your support for the best fucking bunch of convicts that somehow, miraculously, managed to turn serving time, into building one of the best countries in the world.

Being on the 26th!

[Sunny]

Happy Australia Day Sal. Hope u score major vag man!

[crunk]

I'm ready Jitz. Oh I am ready.

To help celebrate the mood, you know you

[jitz]

I just don't understand why so many people have issues with beach cricket rules, there's always arguements.

It's tippy-go, one hand one bounce, and in the water on the full is out.

Write them down people.

[Aero]

whilst some of those made me laugh, others are hardly australia specific and some of them just apply to EVERYONE.... well, cept those countries with national anthems with no words .

anyways, it seems appropriate to say " happy bastard day" to the lot of youse

[jitz]

At some international everts they play the second verse, not knowing that Australia only sings the first verse. I could sing the entire firsy verse, ask me to do the second and I could tell you it involves a cook from Albion, Britannia ruling the waves and true Britsish courage. So we look like idiots when they play the second verse, a real deer in the headlights look as they're forced to pretend to mouth words they don't know...like Garth in Wayne's World.

In the mid-late 1800's the vote took place on what the anthem should be Advance Australia Fair won, with Waltzing Matilda coming second by a fair margin, and God Save the Queen barely registering. Thing is, everyone knows the words to Waltzing Matilda! It's awesome. It's so stereotypical Australian and we embrace that. If you haven't heard it, YouTube it, and tell me you wouldn't love seeing an Australian at the Olympics singing that on the podium.

[Aero]

is the 2nd verse of your national anthem actually "rule britannia"

[jitz]

No.

[RingMaster2001]

It's sad that even the Australians are more patriotic than us.

[crunk]

*Note to self - remember to hit up the bottle-o the day before, so we don't have a repeat of last year*

[Nemo]

Happy Australia Day Sal. Hope u score major vag man!

id just like to say it's an honor for people to confuse jitz with myself.

[Aero]

haha shut up poppn

[RingMaster2001]

I, too would like to celebrate Australia Day, with a history of it's origins, and how it came to be.

For around 40,000 years before European settlement commenced in the late 18th century, the Australian mainland and Tasmania were inhabited by around 250 individual nations of indigenous Australians. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the immediate north, this led to European discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606. So why isn't the 1606 date remembered as the birthday?

The eastern half of Australia was claimed by the British in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales, founded on 26 January 1788. So indeed, the day you are celebrating Australia Day, is infact when we sent out our prisoners, criminals, murderers, thieves, and traitors from London, and deported them, arriving at 'Australia' (New South Wales) on the aforementioned date. What a date to celebrate.

The population grew steadily in the following years; the continent was explored, and during the 19th century another five largely self-governing Crown Colonies were established. Therefore Australia wasn't one unified nation at all.

On 1 January 1901, the six colonies became a federation, and the Commonwealth of Australia was formed. Since Federation, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and remains a Commonwealth realm. Thus, the "correct" birthday of Australia the nation was in 1901, making the country 108 years old. The United Kingdom's Statute of Westminster 1931 formally ended most of the constitutional links between Australia and the UK. Australia adopted it in 1942, but backdated it to the beginning of World War II to confirm the validity of legislation passed by the Australian Parliament during the war, therefore it can even be argued that Australia as a sovereign nation is infact only 67 years old, but backdated officially means that it can be considered 70 years old.

Americans celebrate the birth of their nation as 1776, the date they became a sovereign nation and creating a constitution. They do not recognise the dates that Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492, nor the landing at Florida by the Spanish in 1513. They recognise it correctly, the date they became a nation.

So why do Australia pick that date, the date you would expect them trying to forget being as it is that Australia was built and their people descended from the most vile criminals of that period. But alas, this is just another quirk in the country that gave us Rolf Harris, Dame Edna Everage, Paul Hogan, Neighbours, and Dannii Minogue (cringes).

[jitz]

We don't celebrate the 1st of January because it's New Years Day, it's already a public holiday, why would we want to waste a holiday worthy day on one that's already a holiday?

[RingMaster2001]

September 3rd, 1939 - The date the adoption of the Statute of Westminster was backdated to. Or, if due to the fact that is the date of the start of the war (which hardly anybody remembers anymore), could have used the date from 1942. I find it laughable that you use the date where you wasn't a made a nation-state, a date where we sent out convicts. Not only that, but you were divided into 6 different dominions (what are now your 'territories'), and were not a single entity until 1901, at a time when you still were not independent.

I celebrate the date we sent out convicts away from the gallows and the threat of execution to that very continent. Cleaned up this country.

[jitz]

Martin, your facts are wrong.

They weren't dominions, they were termed colonies. Very quickly as colonies established themselves, trade agreements and the like were established, so the country was really a whole entity and even known as Australia well before 1901. Before 1901, international agreements, treaties and the like were made by joint ventures between states.

Even the states of the colonies were established well before 1901. South Australia - one of the last States to be formed was created in the early 1800's. 1901 was just the formation of the federal government, a government to look after national affairs above a state level. Not even every colony thought they'd be better off under that agreement, which is why we have two Territories - Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory. So even still in 2008 not every area of Australia is recognised under the 1901 agreement - shall we not include them in your 1901 Australia Day? NT took a vote two years ago to dec ide if they wanted to become a State, they still voted no.

Australia was known as Australia before 1901, was functioning seperate from Britain before 1901, and the landmass was divided into seperate governing bodies before 1901. I think you're resting far too much weight on a 1901 Federation agreement, that really was only an agreement for a national standard on schooling, health care and international relations.

Oh and we're still not "Independent", otherwise we might recognise an Independence Day type thing.

[Aero]

i.e. another excuse for a day off to get hammered

[jitz]

Well that's essentially what it's all about, it's about celebrating what makes Australia - Australia. Beer, BBQ and a game of backyard cricket. Martin is the only one getting all sentimental about when Australia actually became Australia, despite Australia Day being celebrated before he believes Australia was created - he's wrong.

There's no denying our country's past as being a penal colony for Britain, but still obviously some people like Martin choose to hold that against us, despite it taking place over 200 years ago. So he was only 15 at the time. We celebrate the day that fleet landed on these shores and dropped off the people that would become the ancestors of a majority of the nation. I really don't see an issue with that, stuck up Martin does. Clearly he's a little upset about living in the freezing cold and miserable climate of the UK and longs for the convict filled coasts of a penal colony that made a successful country in 200 years.

[Aero]

hahahahahaha penal

[RingMaster2001]

I believe you are talking about Australia being a whole entity, in which case they regarded it as a continent, and often grouped New Zealand with that. So are you celebrating being a country or a continent?

The cold does annoy me, but alas, I don't want to cut the largest whole ever into the O Zone layer in order to get the warmth that Australia has.

[jitz]

Martin, you're talking about Australasia, which is the term used for Australia and New Zealand. Oceania is another name used to describe the continent. Australia is incorrectly used sometimes due to the similarities in the names.

[RingMaster2001]

No Chris.

I know what Australasia and Oceania are, but in that period, Australia was referred to as the continents, with the main land having 5 crown dependencies (therefore 5 different states with governor) with Tasmania being the other one.

[jitz]

The term Australasia was created in (according to Wikipedia) 1756, before you even sent anyone here. So no, in that period "Australia" was not used to describe the two continents. Especially not in 1808 when Australia Day was first celebrated.

I win yet again.

For a bit of clarification too, quoting the Australia (continent) wiki

"New Zealand is not on the same continental shelf and so is not part of the continent of Australia but is part of the submerged continent Zealandia. Zealandia and Australia together are part of the wider region known as Oceania or Australasia."

In 1756 they knew this and coined the term Australasia, Australia wasn't used to group Australia and New Zealand together by 1808 rolled around and Australia Day was first celebrated. Hell even Tasmania was apart of Australia by then, as New South Wales had claimed it.

[RingMaster2001]

Did you have a good Australasia Day, Jitz?

[RingMaster2001]

From Wikipedia:

Becoming aware of the lawless nature of European settlement and increasing interest in the territory by the French, the British government sent William Hobson to New Zealand to claim sovereignty and negotiate a treaty with Māori. The Treaty of Waitangi was first signed in the Bay of Islands on 6 February 1840. The drafting was done hastily and confusion and disagreement continues to surround the translation. The Treaty is regarded as New Zealand's foundation as a nation and is revered by Māori as a guarantee of their rights. Hobson initially selected Okiato as the capital in 1840, before moving the seat of government to Auckland in 1841.

Under British rule New Zealand had been part of the colony of New South Wales In 1840 New Zealand became its own dominion, which signalled increasing numbers of European settlers particularly from the British Isles.