The silly and “Woolie” thinking behind Australian retail giant Woolworth’s (and later Aldi’s) decision not to sell Australia Day merchandise in the lead-up to Australia’s national day, the 26th of January, is both appalling and unpatriotic.
It literally sells Australians short, and denies them a choice, while also betraying shareholder expectations.
The management clearly has not only failed to deliver for their Australian customers, they have also failed to heed the Walt Disney and Budweiser lesson of “go woke, go broke.”
Their major competitor Coles is wisely selling Australia Day merchandise which will see customers rightly change allegiance between the two major retailers.
What has also been heartwarming is the vigour with which Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is calling out this abuse by management and directors, who seem more interested in showcasing their woke credentials than their fiduciary duties to shareholders and customers.
Woolworth’s silly stance is also indicative of the malaise besetting a small and influential, yet unrepresentative, section of the Australian community which somehow has come to the convoluted and contorted conclusion that celebrating the nation in which they live is to be condemned.
Australia by any metric is an extremely successful nation.
Be it in raw wealth, be it in freedoms enjoyed, be it in the diversity of its ethnic make-up, be it in lifestyle, be it in life expectancy—you name the metric and Australia always compares favourably by international standards.
Yet in the face of the overwhelming blessings they have inherited, there is this self-flagellating minority that only sees evil under every imaginable rock. One suspects if unimaginable rocks were a thing they would find evil there as well, so manic and zealous are they in finding fault.
This ungrateful element is now seeking to make their fellow Australians feel ashamed of their great, freedom-loving, democratic nation which sees literally millions of people from around the world desperately try to enter and gain residency.
How others view Australia is in itself an exceptionally robust indicator of how we are going as a nation.
One of the great Australian freedoms is that you can leave whenever you want. The statistics suggest there aren’t any Australian refugees in the world, which in itself is another indicator and should be a cause of some reflection by the self-flagellators.
On the 26th of January of each year, Australians rightly celebrate their nation using the date when British settlement commenced.
For all the deniers and naysayers, the simple fact is that without settlement the formation of the Australian nation would never have occurred.
And without British settlement, there would have been settlement by another colonising nation. As colonising powers go, the British were the most advanced and civilised of their competitor colonisers at the time.
Aboriginal women had the vote in South Australia not only before the federation referenda in 1899, but also before their sisters in European countries. Something worthy of celebration yet studiously ignored by those who demand we only the downsides and negatives of Australia.
Sure, 200 years ago things were not as they are now. But let’s not forget, nor was it in the Aboriginal communities.
The good news is things have improved and substantially improved for all.
For too long this woolie negative thinking about Australia Day being a day of shame and invasion, if not genocide, has been promoted without effective pushback, until the superstar Indigenous political advocate Senator Jacinta Price hit the national stage.
Senator Price’s commonsense and real-world practical approach has captured huge swathes of the Australian population.
Only recently elected and appointed to a senior frontbench position by Opposition Leader Dutton, this articulate senator celebrates her nation, and is proud of her heritage.
She even makes the unassailable observation that with British settlement came the opportunity for a constancy of food supplies and running water in Aboriginal settlements—vital commodities for life expectancy and standard of living.
Senator Price has pushed back against the demonising of colonialism, and the national self-loathing about the foundation of modern Australian achievement.
Her fresh, no-nonsense, tell-it-as-it-is (that is real “truth-telling”) advocacy style helped the federal opposition promote the “No” case against the divisive Voice referendum in October 2023.
The defeat of the government’s proposed change to the Constitution was massive, and largely due to Ms. Price’s authentic advocacy.
It is hoped all in Australia will fall behind her and Mr. Dutton’s advocacy in supporting Australia Day, which celebrates the best country and culture in the world. As the Australian anthem recites, Australians all have a lot about which to rejoice.
