Record number of Australians support keeping January 26, Resolve Political Monitor poll reveals
A record number of Australians want to celebrate Australia Day on January 26. After a summer of anger and division following the Bondi murders, seven in 10 people reject calls to change the date.
Support for January 26 has increased steadily over the past three years in exclusive polls conducted for this imprint by the Resolve Political Monitor. Only 47 per cent supported the January 2023 date, while 56 per cent backed it in January 2024, shortly after the failed Voice of Parliament referendum.
Despite objections from Indigenous Australians to celebrate the nation on the day the first fleet arrived and colonization began, 68 per cent now push back on the current national day.
The question was: “What is your preference for the date of Australia Day if we were to make it a national day?” While the majority of the 18-34 age group, which is the generation most open to changing the date, supports January 26, 55 percent said they want to preserve the current day, while only 24 percent said they were in favor of change. Support was strongest in the over-54 age group, with 78 percent supporting the current date.
While support for changing the date fell sharply from 39 percent in January 2023 to 16 percent of those surveyed, the number of neutral or undecided remained roughly the same.
The estimated number of people participating in annual Invasion Day parades in major cities has also decreased. In 2019, 50,000 people marched in Melbourne and approximately 40,000 in Sydney, while tens of thousands of people marched in other capitals. Crowds at rallies in Melbourne and Sydney last year were estimated to be half that, at 25,000.
State authorities have confirmed plans for Invasion Day rallies in Melbourne and Sydney on Monday; NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon agreed to remove Hyde Park from protest exclusion zones established following the Bondi murders on December 14 and described the event as peaceful.
Victoria’s protest restrictions have already been lifted and on Friday, organizers of Melbourne’s Invasion Day rally successfully challenged stop and search powers recently granted to Victoria Police in the CBD and surrounding suburbs.
Anti-immigration protests for Australia in March will continue in major cities on Australia Day. Previous marches attended by tens of thousands of people were criticized after members of neo-Nazi groups, which have dispersed in the face of new laws banning hate groups, addressed the crowds.
The majority of respondents to the Resolve survey (66 per cent) said a national day like Australia Day contributes to social cohesion, while 74 per cent said they agreed with the idea of a national day.
Resolve director Jim Reed, who conducted a separate survey for the National Australia Day Council, said Australians “need mechanisms to enable them to come together and express unity given all the division, uncertainty, fragmentation and pressures of the last few years, and this is reflected in the continued strong support for our national day.”
“Even more surprising is the growth in support for celebrating Australia Day: the fourth annual increase we have recorded in our survey. This is driven mainly by young people who appear more attuned to positive associations with the long weekend and day than in previous years’ campaigns for change.”
The survey, with the participation of 1800 voters, was conducted between January 12 and 16. The margin of error was 2.3 percentage points.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week floated the idea of Australia Day as an opportunity for unity, telling ABC Perth on Friday that the national day would be an opportunity to celebrate “the three phases of Australia”.
When asked what his message for Australia Day was, he said: “We have the oldest continuous culture in the world among Indigenous Australians, but first with the arrival of the British new, then multicultural Australia and what we see in this country.” “And I think we have a duty, not just at the national level, but also in a time of international turbulence and upheaval that we’re seeing. Our duty is to be a microcosm to the whole world, showing the harmony and diversity that are our strength.”
While the Federal Labor Party and the old Coalition recognize January 26 as a national day, the Greens want the date to be changed.
Indigenous rights campaigner Thomas Mayo acknowledged the trend in the polls but still believes Australians will eventually agree to move the celebration to a less painful date for First Nations.
“Like most people who support changing the day, we are not saying that we don’t have reasons to celebrate our country and what we have achieved,” he said in this tagline.
“All we’re saying is, you know, it’s a day of mourning and since 1938 when the first protest took place, you know, it’s been celebrated on the 26th of January. You know, it’s a day of mourning for many Australians as well, you know, because it marks the beginning of British colonialism.”
“Objections to the observance of January 26 by First Peoples and many other Australians are not about creating guilt or shame, but about understanding these historical facts and reflecting on the responsibilities and reciprocity of being Australian. Reconciliation Australia has consistently called for discussions and debates around January 26 to be conducted respectfully and without ridicule,” the Reconciliation Council said in a statement.
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Nick Newling is the federal politics correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.
