By Situation Theatre 25/1/2017
Turns out even multicultural nationalism isn’t half as cool as actually honouring Aboriginal Australians.
What with this whirlwind 24-hour news cycle, the phases of the moon, and the alignment of the Aztec calendar, sometimes it’s hard to tell when Australia Day advertising campaigns are a bad idea.
Which is why it’s lucky the answer is always, so long as the date is still January 26.
Thankfully hundreds of thousands of Australians are getting behind a new campaign which is not just well-intended, but also about solidarity more than exclusion.
The new “Invasion Day” billboards features a diverse cross section of Australian society all holding Aboriginal flags as well placards emblazoned with phrases like “Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land”, “Treaty Now”, and “Sovereignty. Never ceded.”
Although for a minute there it looked like a Lamb Ad had sorted out all that bad stuff with Aboriginal people, annoyingly, it seems like there’s more work to do.