Benefits of Change

    Time and Date

    • The time and date of the Australia Long Weekend is not based on any historical event. The time has been selected because the second last long weekend in January is the best time of the year for a three-day national celebration;

    Celebrating all Australians

    • The many who value our British institutions and the rule of law will celebrate our Australian values over the proposed long weekend. First peoples and many others will no longer be divided over a date, no longer will our national day be on a date that marks dispossession. Indigenous culture and history will be rightly celebrated by all. Those from many lands from across the seas who have contributed so much to our multicultural society, have been and are welcomed as citizens in this land.

    A national festival

    • Our national celebration and festival will provide everyone the opportunity to have time away from work, and to participate in public events or privately with family and friends at home, around a campfire in the bush or at the beach. Both business owners and staff members prefer a long weekend to a standalone national day during the week which can interrupt work and family life;

    January weather is mostly sunny

    • The prospect of reasonable weather for the majority of Australians is generally best around two-thirds of the way through January. An ideal Australia Long Weekend is to celebrate outside in the warmth and sunshine for which we are famous;

    Signals the end of the holiday period

    • The timing of the Australia Long Weekend signals the end of the four-week holiday period from Christmas Day and fits in well with a return to work and school;

    Respectful celebration

    • The knowledge that we are all celebrating our great country together in a way that is respectful and rewarding creates goodwill and positivity, and better prepares us for the challenges of the year ahead.

    An appropriate time to come together

    • The Monday of the Australia Long Weekend, the Australia Day public holiday, being the last day of the long weekend would be an appropriate time for all to come together to celebrate what had happened and been achieved over the three days. Think of the intense emotion of the athletes at the closing ceremony of the Olympics and of those attending at the close of the Garma Festival in Arnhem Land.