Greens MPs Advocate to Change the Date of Australia Day

Dawn Walker joined other Greens MPs, including party leader Richard di Natale, in advocating a change to the date traditionally used to celebrate Australia Day, in a video published on Tuesday, January 16.

The subject was under debate in the lead up to the annual public holiday, held on January 26, the day that in 1788 the First Fleet arrived in Port Jackson to start a British colony. On Monday, January 15, Richard di Natale declared a date change would be the party’s top priority in 2018.

On the same day, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull voiced his support for the traditional date, which was first celebrated as Australia Day in 1935. Credit: Dawn Walker MP via Storyful