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WA actor Meyne Wyatt calls for Australia Day to be ‘abolished’

Peter DevlinThe West Australian
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Meyne Wyatt poses for a photo with his Packing Room Prize-winning self-portrait, entitled Meyne, at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney, Thursday, September 17, 2020. (AAP Image/Joel Carrett) NO ARCHIVING
Camera IconMeyne Wyatt poses for a photo with his Packing Room Prize-winning self-portrait, entitled Meyne, at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney, Thursday, September 17, 2020. (AAP Image/Joel Carrett) NO ARCHIVING Credit: JOEL CARRETT/AAPIMAGE

WA actor Meyne Wyatt has called for Australia Day to be “abolished” and the country to “decolonise” ahead of January 26.

The Kalgoorlie-raised star took to Instagram on Tuesday, voicing his concerns over the recent copyright acquisition of the Aboriginal flag by the Federal Government.

“I don’t want to change the date. I don’t want a day. Australia does not exist,” he wrote alongside a picture of him standing in front of a mural of the Aboriginal flag.

“This land is illegally occupied by a foreign power. The fact the flag is now in the hands of the Commonwealth speaks to that.”

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On Monday it was revealed the Federal Government forked out $20 million to secure the rights to the Aboriginal flag, bringing to an end a remarkable copyright spat over its use.

After nearly three years of negotiations the Commonwealth secured the legal transfer of the iconic artwork making its use free for all Australians.

The deal was agreed with its creator - Luritja man Harold Thomas - and the three companies who collectively owned the licence - WAM Clothing, Gifts Mate and Flagworld.

Mr Wyatt went on to say simply changing the date of Australia Day does not address the country’s structural racism.

“The day and the nation needs to be abolished. I know that makes some of you s**t yourselves but abolition addresses structural racism in a definitive way. More than shallow symbolism and tokenistic gestures, like changing a date or freeing a flag,” he said.

Men and women, young and old are divided about the upcoming Australian Day public holiday according to a survey conducted less than a week before its spot on the calendar.

Australia has seven national public holidays, four of them between December 25 and January 26.

The last, officially called Australia Day, is held on the date British Royal Navy vessels raised a Union Jack at Sydney Cove, called Warrane by the Aboriginal people who fished and lived there.

Close to 234 years later, the date and holiday are an ongoing source of contention that divides generations.

CoreData surveyed 1292 people on Thursday and found “a generational and gender divide among Australians over the significance of the day and its position in the calendar”.

The research consultancy asked whether people planned to celebrate, whether they supported moving the holiday to another date and how their opinions had changed in recent years.

Overall, 54 per cent of respondents said they planned to mark the occasion, with 30 per cent saying they would be celebrating the history and achievements of Australia and 15 per cent “just because it was a public holiday”.

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