This whingeing tells us it's Australia Day

Last week I wondered who'd be the first to whinge for Australia Day. As Bob Murray said:

HERE are some forecasts, hopes and suggestions for the Australia Day period: the forecast is that there will be all the usual complaints about the day, the flag, the national anthem, the Constitution, the head of state and the federal system.

And right on cue:

The 12, including outgoing Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry, say the current flag which incorporates the Union Jack, still "highlights and promotes the flag of another nation''....

The statement, released by the chairman of Ausflag, was signed by Olympians Dawn Fraser and Shane Gould and fellow sporting greats Evonne Goolagong and Robert de Castella, as well as scientists Sir Gustav Nossal and Prof Ian Frazer and Seekers lead singer Judith Durham.

But the prize has already been claimed, of course, by Sir Michael Parkinson, of all people:

Speaking to reporters in Sydney after becoming the first foreigner to deliver the annual Australia Day address in its 15-year history, Parky said ... the period after Queen Elizabeth II either dies or abdicates would be an "acceptable'' time for the nation to formally sever ties with the British royal family.

"I find it, in a sense, incomprehensible that it's not that now.''

And, of course, new Australian of the Year Simon McKeon tells the ABC this morning he's "110 per cent" behind a republic, too.

When did this tradition develop that Australia Day was to celebrate what divided us?

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