“Despite the continued campaign of the political class and elites to denigrate and cancel our national day, a strong majority of Australians still support January 26 as Australia Day,” said Daniel Wild, Deputy Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs.
The poll of 1,000 Australians, undertaken by marketing research firm Dynata, found 63% of respondents agreed with the statement ‘Australia Day should be celebrated on January 26′, 17% disagreed and 20% had no opinion. Support for Australia Day on January 26 has remained steady over the past 12 months.
“Australia is the greatest nation on earth. Our way of life and freedoms are the envy of the world, and they must be cherished and celebrated,” said Mr Wild.
“Importantly, over the past five years fewer than one-in-five Australians have indicated they do not support Australia Day on January 26. Despite this, there is a continued, relentless campaign by inner-city elites, the political class, big business, and civil society to cancel our national day.”
“Just like the Voice to Parliament debate, it is clear that the noisy minority are again intent on trying to cancel and denigrate mainstream Australians and stop us from celebrating our wonderful, egalitarian country.”
Consistent with last year’s results, the poll also found that 87% of respondents were proud to be an Australian, just 4% disagreed, and 69% agreed Australia has a history to be proud of, with 15% disagreeing.
“It is concerning just 42% of those aged 18-24 support Australia Day on January 26, this is a direct result of relentless indoctrination taking place at schools and universities. A strong majority (61%) of younger Australians beyond the years of formal education (ages 25-34) support our national day,” said Mr Wild.
“You can hardly blame young Australians for having a negative view of their country given they are continually told it is not worth celebrating or fighting for. We all have a role to play to let young Australians know, while not perfect, how great our nation and its story is.”
The continued strong support for our national day follows recent revelations that at least 81 local councils throughout the nation have cancelled Australia Day festivities and citizenship ceremonies on January 26, and businesses, such as Woolworths, specifically refuse to acknowledge our national day.
“It is simple, if we do not fight for Australia Day, we will lose it. Having lost the Voice to Parliament referendum, the attempts to destroy our national day by the elites and the political class will be unrelenting,” said Mr Wild.
“January 26 is more than just a date, it represents the establishment of modern Australia as a free and fair country, it rightly should be celebrated. Mainstream Australians understand that cancelling Australia Day is an assault on the Australian way of life,” said Mr Wild.
To download the IPA’s Australia Day poll click here.
