Australia Day

It’s Australia Day tomorrow. To remind everyone about it, the local train station has put up big A4 sheets of paper with “Remember Australia Day” computer-printed on them. “January 26” is also taped up here and there. Altogether it’s supremely tacky.

But it does raise a point. Sure, people will remember Australia Day before the event, but certainly not after. A good Australian will probably have a story about being barred from the barbecue because they’d become flammable on VB. The amount of brain-pickling that goes on is challenged only by Melbourne Cup day (which is strange, because we’re nowehere near Melbourne).

OK, so I’m generalising. But I do think most people enjoy Australia Day. I do. The timing is such that it consoles the weary worker who is still mellow from Christmas gorging (or brain dead from New Year champagne). I mean, we don’t get all that many public holidays in Australia. Coming from someone who grew up in Malaysia anyway. We get:

• New Year’s Day, 1 January
• Australia Day, 26 January
• Good Friday, 21 March
• Easter Saturday, 22 March
• Easter Monday, 24 March
• Anzac Day, 25 April
• Labour Day, 5 May
• Queen’s Birthday, 9 June
• Royal Queensland Show, 13 August (a Brisbane thing)
• Christmas Day, 25 December
• Boxing Day, 26 December

… and that’s it. So I guess we’d better dust off the barbecue, get down to the bottle shop and slip, slop, slap. You know, like Arthur Phillip would’ve done. It’s the last real holiday of summer. Happy Australia Day!