Australia

Victoria’s oldest independent bookshop has apologised after its owner called for more picture books with “just white kids on the cover” and claimed that the chain would stop stocking “woke agenda” content that divided people.

Susanne Horman, the owner of Robinsons Bookshop chain, posted a series of tweets in December where she called for an “substantial shift” in Australian publishing, arguing the focus should be in line with public opinion, requests for books and “for what is good”.

“What’s missing from our bookshelves in store?” Horman wrote in one tweet, before the account was deleted. “Positive male lead characters of any age, any traditional nuclear white family stories, kids picture books with just white kids on the cover, and no wheelchair, rainbow or indigenous art, non indig [sic] aus history.”

Another post read: “Books we don’t need: hate against white Australians, socialist agenda, equity over equality, diversity and inclusion (READ AS anti-white exclusion), left wing govt propaganda. Basically the woke agenda that divides people. Not stocking any of these in 2024.”

In a Facebook post on Sunday night, Robinsons Bookshop said the comments had been “taken out of context” and “misrepresented the views” of the company.

Exclusive: the NSW environmental regulator has known for more than a decade that contaminated soil fill might have been used in childcare centres, schools and parks

Let’s party!

First NSW and now Tassie!

I have found 2 nests in the last year on my property in South East QLD. Never been stung, but they are very aggressive.

For those who don't know, you can report Fire Ant sightings here for Queensland. They were good with getting in contact with me, and usually took around 7 days to come and treat my property.

So, Australia Day. Here's how I think the whole debate can be settled. We swap King's Birthday and Australia Day.

King's Birthday, which is universally acknowledged as no more than an excuse for a day off, falls very close to the anniversary of the date the Mabo decision was handed down. That would be a great date to celebrate the fact that our nation isn't just a smidge over two centuries old, but many tens of thousands of years old. We still have major issues of reconciliation and treaty to deal with, but this could be a good step in that direction.

Now, we still need a holiday towards the end of January. How else will we know it's time to go back to school, or which songs are considered hot? If we move the King's Birthday to the last Friday in January (and remember, the King's Birthday isn't held on his birthday and the timing is essentially arbitrary) we still get a chance to celebrate whatever it is we celebrate then. We can still pop a side of lamb on the barbie, we can still watch the cricket... heck, we can still celebrate our love for our great nation by putting on a pair of flag budgie smugglers and running up Glenelg Jetty otherwise naked.

Thoughts?

Prominent neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell has been stopped by police at a Sydney train station and ordered to stay away from Australia Day celebrations in the City of Sydney.

New polling shows a significant drop in support for January 26 in just two years.

Originally found here on Facebook

Transcription:

There's a feeling I remember,
It comes on late December,
Though in January it really hits its stride.

When the weather's getting sunny
Comes this tingle in me tummy,
It's a patriotic mix of shame and pride.

So we say happy New Year
And we scull another beer
And we hit the beach and party until too late,

Before taking up position
For that ancient old tradition,
Arguing if we should change the date.

Now before I start to ramble
I might take a little gamble
And invite you all to simply raise your hand,

If you think the date should change,
If you agree that it's quite strange,
To celebrate when Cook set foot upon this land.

[Pause as he waits for off-screen members of the audience to raise their hands.]

Now that's all well and fine,
But it was April 29
When Captain Cook said hey boys land ahead.

No, the date you're looking for
Is when Arthur Phillip hit the shore,
So who reckons we should change that date instead?

Now, just to reconvene
That was January 18.
Is that the date we're trying to abandon?

'Cos I'm a bit like some of you,
Like I'd prefer to change it too,
But first I'd like to bloody know what happened.

And it turns out as it was,
The date was picked because it was
The date when they formally established New South Wales.

So should we change to that date instead?
[Gestures to audience and hears their "yeahs"]
Nah that was the 7th of Feb.
But let's not get distracted by details.

'Cos there's nothing quite as Aussie
As a barbie with a saussie
And a cricket bat and sunnies and a ball.

Still we must be the only nation
With no real appreciation
Of why we're even gathering at all.

Something must have taken place.
Was it Phar Lap's final race?
Or Donald Bradman's best day at the crease?

Ned Kelly getting shot?
When Scott and Charlene tied the knot?
Or when Crocodile Dundee got released?

So I did a little reading,
'Cos I felt that we were needing
Further clarity on why we chose this date.

And what happened it turns out,
Those who know it please don't shout,
26th of Jan, 1788.

Well Phillip had already landed,
But now he returned red-handed,
And this time raised a flag and there's the twist.

Nothing legal to be sure,
Just a flag and nothing more.
Then they sat around that flag and all got pissed.

So that's the moment that we mark.
Drunken sailors in the dark.
That's Australia Day, and now you know the score.

And we've marked it ever since,
You don't seem convinced.
You're right, they only picked that date in 1994.

So it's less than 30 years
That we've been getting on the beers
To commemorate a moment we forgot.

And in its very brief existence
It's been met with such resistance
That it's spent more time dividing us than not.

And it strikes me as quite strange
But some people don't like change.
They say you can't take something from me that is mine.

Well I know some people who
Prob'ly know that feeling too.
But it's 60,000 years not twenty nine.

And I'm not totally naive,
I don't actually believe
That a change would fix the issues that we face.

I just don't like people thinking
That their sacred day of drinking
Is so special it could never be replaced.

And there might come a time,
Probably decades down the line,
When we settle on a more befitting day.

An honest celebration
Better suited to this nation.
Where we can listen once again to Triple J.

Still there's nothing quite as Aussie
As some Mortein on a mozzie,
Or ignoring problems at our nation's heart.

So we'll mark the day for now
The only way that we know how,
And every January we'll tear ourselves apart.

COVID-19 was detected in Australia four years ago today.

The metal sculpture on Jacka Boulevard in St Kilda was sawn off at the ankles about 3.30am Thursday, with vandals also spray-painting “the colony will fall” on the statue’s granite plinth.

You know how people make jokes about Thatcher and Regan's graves being gender neutral bathrooms?

Who do you think qualifies, or will qualify, for that title here in Australia?

Exclusive: anonymised notes reveal concerns about injuries, self-harm, security incidents and sickness in overcrowded cells

• In short: Optus says close to 2,700 customers tried and failed to call emergency services from their mobile phones during the November 2023 network outage.
• This number is more than 10 times higher than what the telco previously told the Senate.
• What’s next? Optus says it is writing to each customer individually to apologise, and the federal government is conducting a post-incident review.

A hundred days on from the unsuccessful referendum, it’s time to rebuild momentum for the rights of First Nations people