As we near the 26th of January some reflection is due and as one who supports keeping the date as it is I will try and set out some relevant points. Once those First Fleet ocean weary seamen and their human cargo began landing to establish what is now Sydney and New South Wales – a cosmic bell tolled for the end of the Stone Age across the wide brown great southern land. Few would have had much comprehension at the time that they were representatives from the origins of the Industrial Revolution that would go on to bring sky-rocketing social advances, democracy and untold 20th Century improvements in life expectancy and living standards for all. Explorers fanned out to explore the land and report back on agriculture & settlement prospects, logging their observations and contacts with sparse numbers of indigenous people in a process that was largely peaceful. In the subsequent several decades settlement took root at the sites of what are now the other State capitals. Today some who are against Australia Day refer to it as “Invasion Day” but IMHO that belittles the military effort and casualties in many invasions & counter defences throughout history. The taxpayer funded ABC has stepped up production of many TV and news programs against the notion of Australia Day – mainly after the Uluru Statement from mid 2017. Many green/left influenced urban Councils are against the idea of Australia Day and the Commonwealth Gov. is often lazy and ambivalent about marking out what it supports. In recent years the notion of a “Voice to Parliament” brought about by some yet to be defined constitutional change wrought by a referendum – comes to the fore on news at times. Usually it ignores the fact that indigenous parliamentarians make up plenty of “Voices already in Parliament” and obviously many non-indigenous voters are voting for them, which is great. One issue that you might expect we could all agree on is “closing the gap”. It appalls me that so many years keep passing, $Billions are spent and so little progress is made. I notice ABC News is now acknowledging that about 70% of the population favours keeping Australia Day as it is. I am surprised people are so resistant to the constant repetition of ersatz Stone Age ceremonies and street theatre portrayals. ABC says – “Australia Day debate is exhausting and data tells us it could last another generation”.