Australia Day!
Today is “Australia Day” – Australia’s national day.

It marks the raising of the British flag at Sydney Cove on the 26th of January 1788, and the establishment of the first European permanent settlement.

Eighteen years earlier, our country had been claimed by the British explorer Captain James Cook on the 1st of January 1770. He had named the eastern half of the continent “New South Wales”.

The settlers who raised the flag at Sydney Cove 237 years ago were led by Captain Arthur Phillip and he was appointed the first Governor of New South Wales.

Governor Phillip commanded the “First Fleet” of eleven ships which had taken 250 days to sail around from Portsmouth in England. The eleven ships consisted of two small warships of the Royal Navy, HMS Sirius and HMAT Supply; six convict transports, Alexander, Charlotte, Friendship, Lady Penrhyn, Prince of Wales and Scarborough; and three storeships, Borrowdale, Fishburn and Golden Grove.
The ships contained 565 officers, sailors and marines; 54 wives and children; and 1,030 convicts (of whom 767 were male, 222 were female and 41 were children). The new settlement also had seven horses, seven cattle, 29 sheep and 74 pigs.

The fleet had first landed on the 20th of January at Botany Bay, which is to the south. But Phillip didn’t like the area and his further explorations discovered the magnificent harbour where the city of Sydney would later develop.

Two French ships were following the First Fleet but fortunately Governor Phillip’s forces were sufficient to deter them from causing any trouble and they departed peacefully.

Phillip also frequently met with the indigenous people who followed a paleolithic way of life in the area. Phillip required that the colonists treat the indigenous people with respect and some of them were recruited as native guides. The manly appearance of their warriors led to the naming of the Sydney beachside suburb of Manly. The eastern end of Sydney Cove was later named Bennelong Point after Woollarawarre Bennelong, a Wangal Man who was the chief of the local Eora clan.

On the morning of the 26th, Governor Phillip and a small party of marines assembled at the head of a small cove which he had chosen for the new settlement. Phillip named the settlement after Lord Sydney – the British Home Secretary who had devised the plan for the penal settlement in New South Wales. Sydney Cove is now better known as “Circular Quay”.

Some sailors raised the Union Jack on a makeshift flagpole and the marines fired a volley with their muskets. The assembled crowd gave three cheers to King George III and a toast was drunk with cups of porter (brown ale).

The 26th of January was subsequently celebrated in the 19th Century as “First Landing Day” and “Foundation Day”. It became Australia’s official national day ninety years ago in 1935.

For me, the most memorable Australia Day was the “Bicentenary of Australia” on Australia Day in 1988. It was a huge day of historical reenactments; the “Parade of Sails” which was the largest gathering of sailing vessels ever assembled in Sydney Harbour; long distance camel racing; and a massive party across the country.

Today we are especially proud to be Australian and, in the words of our national anthem:

“Advance Australia Fair!”

SOME IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT THREE US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

igrwing
Jan 6
2 min read

Updated: Jan 7

Blog Post by Dr Ian Wing dated 6 January 2025

Some important facts:

1. In November 2016, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the US presidential election. Trump was inaugurated as president on 20 January 2017.

2. In November 2020, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the US presidential election. Trump then started a multi-faceted campaign to discredit the presidential election result and retain power. First, his supporters launched 62 legal challenges to the election result (all of which failed). Second, other followers signed false documents claiming instances of electoral fraud. Third, Trump personally tried to force the Government of the State of Georgia to give him 11,780 votes to overturn the close result in that state. This campaign culminated on 6 January 2021 when Trump personally generated a violent mob of 2,500 supporters – including armed extremists from the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers – who stormed the US Capitol Building in Washington DC. Trump exhorted them: “We fight like Hell and if you don't fight like Hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.” The mob seized control of the Capitol, while chanting “hang Mike Pence” (threatening Trump’s own vice-president), and attempted to intimidate a joint session of the US Congress and stop the formalization of Biden’s victory. The attempted coup d’etat led to 5 deaths; 174 police officers were wounded; and 1,424 rioters were charged with assault (64% of whom were sent to jail). Fortunately, Trump’s plan was defeated by some still loyal members of the Republican Party, such as Mike Pence. Biden was inaugurated as president on 20 January 2021. Trump was subsequently impeached for inciting the violent insurrection but the Republican Party minority in the US Senate managed to protect him from the two-thirds vote required for his conviction.

3. In November 2024, Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the US presidential election. Today, the majority of Republican voters do not believe that the mob assault on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 even occurred. Most incredibly, 39% now believe that the assault was a false flag operation by the FBI. Some also cling to the ridiculous ideas that if there was an assault then it was perpetrated by Afro-Americans, Muslims, or radical communists.

4. These facts demonstrate the greatest weakness of democracy. A small majority of voters (49.9% for Trump versus 48.4% for Harris) have chosen to accept the “big lie” which is being repeated by dishonest charlatans like Trump. Please look up Joseph Goebbels for more information on how the big lie works. In so doing, these voters have given power to Trump and his despicable Quisling collaborators. Of course, these people have no time for democracy itself. They only accept the results of democratic elections when it suits them to do so – otherwise they lie, threaten and intimidate.

5. In accordance with democracy, Trump will be inaugurated as president on 20 January this year and, in accordance with the current constitution, he will remain president for at least the next four years. We had better get used to it.

SOME IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT THREE US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

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