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ANGE:

From Schwartz Media, I’m Ange McCormack. This is 7am.

This year the attempt to whip up nationalism over the 26th of January has taken a different turn.

While politicians talk about pride in celebrating Australia Day, many businesses and institutions are moving ahead with not recognising a holiday that celebrates colonisation.

So is the culture war actually failing? Is the debate over? And in the shadow of the referendum defeat, how is the push for Indigenous justice going?

Today, writer and host of The Mission on 3RRR [Triple R], Daniel James, on what this year’s debate tells us about the direction of the country.

It’s Friday, January 26.

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ANGE:

Daniel. It's January 26th, the public holiday known as Australia Day, referred to as Invasion Day by others. It's definitely almost discussed and picked apart public holiday by far. How would you categorise the public conversation around January 26th this year?

DANIEL:

Well, I wrote a piece a number of years ago that basically said that every January in Australia is ruined because the debate around Australia Day/Invasion Day kicks off in earnest. You know, sometimes before January the 1st.

But after the events of last year, it just seems to me that January's not ruined anymore. It's just become ridiculous. The debate has been a pet peeve of culture warriors, particularly on, on the right for a number of years now, and it would seem that Australia has moved on from that debate.

We see it in the way commercial Australia regards Australia Day. We see it in the way local councils, state governments, regard Australia Day and the why they regard Australia Day is not a day of appropriate significance. It's a day that we have forced upon us as a public holiday.

But in terms of whether it's the right day, I think that the majority of Australians have made up their mind that it isn't.

ANGE:

And, are the things that have happened this year, or statements that have come forward in the public, that have made you feel that way?

DANIEL:

Well, I think the most obvious one that's been taking up most of the oxygen in the news cycle has been Woolworths decision, which was unannounced because it was not a matter of a cultural position. It was a matter of responding to that woke concept of supply and demand.

Audio excerpt – Sarah Abo (Today’s host):

“You just mentioned that giving customers the choice, right? So, I mean, if you did have some merchandise, it's their choice whether they buy it or not. So why not just include it and people can walk past it?”

Audio excerpt – Bradford Banducci (Woolworths CEO):

“Sarah, we sell hardly any of that. And what happens after Australia Day? If it's Australia Day specific merchandise, I'll tell you where it goes. It goes into landfill or even worse, into the waterways of Australia.”

DANIEL:

But of course, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton seized upon that and called for Australians to boycott Australia's largest employer.

Audio excerpt - Peter Dutton:

“Other companies haven't done it. And on that basis, I think Australians should boycott Woolworths. I think Brad Banducci should come out and announce that is reversing the decision. It's a bad decision. It damages Woolworths, it embarrasses the employees and I think the Prime Minister frankly needs to call it out.”

DANIEL:

After Peter Dutton made his comments calling for a boycott. A man was charged in Brisbane, vandalising a Woolworths store, graffitiing the store, calling for boycotting Woolworths. We've seen a 50% rise in aggression and in-store entanglements with staff over Australia Day and a direct line of the rhetoric that Peter Dutton has been using.

He hasn't been seen since he called for the boycott. He's just let the public debate play out. And so with that, there has been all sorts of noise from shock jocks across the country dragging the Woolworths CEO in and, you know, basically accusing him of treason.

Audio excerpt – Andrew Bolt:

“How woke is this, last year it campaigned for The Voice, should have learned a lesson.”

Audio excerpt – Sky News Host:

“Take. Your. Custom. Elsewhere.”

Audio excerpt – Sky News Host 2:

“We, the consumer, have the power with our dollars. And we can tell these global elites pulling the strings. Yes, even at Woolworths, where they can shove their agenda.”

DANIEL:

That seems to be the central element of the noise around Australia Day this year. That seems to be the nexus point, the point that everyone is focusing on.

ANGE:

And we've also had things like Pat Cummins come out this year and talk about Australia Day.

DANIEL:

Yeah. Well Pat Cummins, the Australian cricket captain of the men's team, was asked a straight question and he gave a straight answer. He prefaced it by saying how he loves his country, but…

Audio excerpt – Pat Cummins:

“I think once you start realising that Jan chant, sorry, Jan 26 and why it's chosen and yay, you know it's Australia is meant to be a celebration of everything Australia in our history. I think we could choose a better day.”

DANIEL:

And of course Pat Cummins has been under criticism from people in the Murdoch media in particular, for being a woke cricketer, for being someone who cares too much about things outside the cricket field. But what it all highlights to me is, is how ridiculous the debate has become, and the fact that certain sections in the media are using it as fodder to generate content and to sell content.

ANGE:

And I guess we've grown to expect this kind of debate. It's become very typical of this time of year. But this is our first January 26th post The Voice. Have you noticed any differences in the debate this time around, now that we're living in an Australia that voted no?

DANIEL:

Yeah. Last year Australia resoundingly voted no to The Voice referendum, and I think that conservatives saw that as potentially a green light to take Australia somewhere else perhaps. Some would argue backwards, back to a, an imagined Menzian utopia where there are Billy’s carts on the street and meat and three veg on the plate every night.

But because Australians recently voted no to a concept that perhaps they didn't fully understand, something that wasn't tested, something that wasn't easily able to be visualised by people living their daily lives, doesn't mean that their attitudes to other issues like Australia Day have changed.

There are no metrics around that, except that it seems that, civil Australia, when I say civil Australia, many local governments and councils and federal governments and politicians, are moving away from the 26th as being the national day.

And despite all the noise, particularly from the Murdoch press and some of the shock jocks that work for Nine, the utopia that was imagined as a result of the no vote isn't coming to fruition because Australia is a far more diverse, nuanced, complex place than that. And, that must be frustrating for some of the people who were using the voice debate to push all sorts of petty issues.

I think as a result of the massive defeat of of the referendum for Indigenous people alone, a move that the Albanese government could easily make, that would show that it's serious about, restoring faith amongst people within the Aboriginal community, but also doing something about the issues that affect us would be to implement the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in custody. That would be an easy first step to take to to take us down a different path.

There are still massive issues confronting our people and the rigmarole and the nonsense around, January the 26th does little to address any of it.

ANGE:

After the break - What is standing in the way of progress?

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ANGE:

Daniel, we've been talking about the public conversation we're having about January 26th and the sort of fear mongering around it, and how that doesn't necessarily reflect the reality of a lot of Australian sentiment. Why do you think so much time and attention is paid to turning January 26th into a kind of culture war?

DANIEL:

I think because it really does serve the bottom line of a lot of our media organisations. It makes for great fodder for, The Herald Sun and other News Corp, publications. It gets all the culture warriors within those pages, up and fired about, it’s the crew on, Sky After Dark, fired up as well. And this is all used to generate anger. And as the Murdoch way as the way of, media moguls before Murdoch is to generate division, generate anger and hopefully that will result in sales or eyeballs on screens. I think it's cynical is that.

But there's two issues. There's the conservative elements of the media that have a, have a game plan every January, and they roll it out. And then there are other media organisations that seem to be incapable of dealing with debates like this, dealing with debates like we had over the Voice in the reportage around that.

And you'd have to say that, with the ABC's at the moment, they seem totally and utterly incapable of dealing with the nuance that are confronting elements of our community, particularly people of colour. Whether it be around indigenous issues or the, horrors happening in Gaza right now. We've seen people of colour in the ABC leave, in my opinion, being thrown on the bus by management.

And it just seems to me that, the reason you have diverse workplaces, the reason you get people who have grown up in western Sydney or, the western suburbs of Melbourne, people of colour, people from diverse, gender backgrounds into organisations like this is to inform the editorial processes to to make sure that the way that we cover these issues is nuanced. Addresses the complexities, but doesn't speak down to people either.

And at the end of the day, once all those editorial processes are followed through, the truth doesn't change. But the lens you use to focus on the truth can change. And I think, our national broadcaster has failed us on that front with their two sideism approach to some of these issues.

ANGE:

And I guess if we're talking about, you know, things like race, indigenous justice and progress, how much is the media standing in the way of making progress on these issues?

DANIEL:

Well, we see it over the way that we seem to attack every major issue. We see that, that with, the tax reforms that have been announced, the focus has been on the politics of it and not the policy of it. And it seems to me that when it comes to, indigenous issues, the politics is focussed on far more than the content of the issue. And that's why we've seen people like, Jacinta Price platformed by, sections of the media and put on a pedestal because, the, the politics and the machinations around her potentially becoming a leader, within the Liberal National Party in the future is far more interesting to them than reporting on…

ANGE:

What she stands for.

DANIEL:

What she stands for, the intricacies of, what's happening with black deaths in custody, what's happening with Aboriginal contact with the justice system, how the health system is failing Aboriginal people. How housing is, is still a major issue. The shiny prospect of having a, a forthright indigenous woman in a leadership role and her trajectory in being able to cast her in that role is far easier than talking about the issues at play.

ANGE:

And finally, Daniel, well, there obviously is some progress happening in Australian society. I guess the fact remains that there's a reason someone like Peter Dutton or other conservative leaders see an opportunity in January 26th.

Do you think we're getting closer at all to the end of this debate, when kind of flag waving won't have a political payoff, or will this only become more fractious?

DANIEL:

I think we're coming to the end of it. I really do, I think as the country continues to move that way and, the culture warriors continue to plant their feet and stay where they are. I think it will become more of a pantomime show as we move on.

And if we really want to move past some of the culture wars when it comes to Australia Day in particular and then the defeat of people like Peter Dutton, if he doesn't become prime minister, if he loses his leadership, his opposition leader, that's, one less cultural warrior that we all have to deal with in our daily lives.

ANGE:

Daniel, thanks so much for your time.

DANIEL:

Pleasure, Ange.

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ANGE:

Also in the news today …

The United States has condemned a strike on a UN compound in Gaza, which has caused mass civilian casualties.

The United Nations says Israeli tanks struck a UN building that was sheltering displaced Palestinians … while Israel has denied its involvement, suggesting Hamas might have launched the shelling.

And

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended changes to incoming tax cuts in an address to the national press club.

The opposition has accused the PM of breaking a key election promise, saying they will oppose the changes… which involve scaling back the gains for those on higher incomes.

The Prime Minister says the changes will make Australia’s tax system more equitable.

7am is a daily show from The Monthly and The Saturday Paper.

It’s produced by Kara Jensen-Mackinnon, Zoltan Fecso and Cheyne Anderson.

Our senior producer is Chris Dengate. Our technical producer is Atticus Bastow.

Our editor is Scott Mitchell. Sarah McVeigh is our head of audio.

Erik Jensen is our editor-in-chief.

Mixing by Andy Elston, Travis Evans, and Atticus Bastow.

Our theme music is by Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan of Envelope Audio.

I’m Ange McCormack, this is 7am. We’ll be back again next week.

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