THE vast majority yesterday showed how Australia Day should be celebrated.
It was a typical day of Aussie sunshine and an array of festivities -- from barbecues to rodeos to splashing in the surf -- entertained thousands across the nation.
On the Gold Coast, the council-run event at Evandale was a great success, combined with the citizenship ceremony welcoming new Australians to the fold.
The Australia Day honours recipients, including eight Tweed and Gold Coast people, basked in the limelight of their deserved recognition.
Community workers Brian and Elizabeth Hamill, police superintendents Jim Keogh and Alistair Dawson, academics John William and Roger Kitching, sportsman Kelvin Kerkow and business entrepreneur Gordon Merchant are all great examples of ordinary people doing extraordinary things in their chosen field.
They are the type of contributions that make Australia great -- and that should be celebrated.
But still yesterday was marred by a few troublemakers on the Coast, intent on ruining the day for all those around them.
It seems the yobbos moved south because of the heavy police presence at Burleigh Heads, which was the site of last year's regrettable mayhem.
The overwhelming opinion of Bulletin readers is that Australia Day should remain a public holiday and that we should not give in to the lout element who clearly can't handle too much spare time and alcohol.
It was touted yesterday in this column that Australia Day should become a date in the calendar like Remembrance Day -- important but without the day off work.
But the enjoyment of the public holiday was clearly evident around the city yesterday and that has to be respected. Readers, you have been heard.
However, the scene of armed police, patrolling in numbers, some on horseback and some with sniffer dogs, to keep the peace at a Burleigh public park is about as 'un-Australian' as it gets -- to use a word that has been so misused it has almost lost meaning.
We cannot count the lack of violence at Burleigh yesterday as a success.
Sure, the police must chalk it up as a positive preventive law enforcement operation. But there is no patriotic or social 'success' in having to effectively run armed guards around a family picnic.
It is a slight on our community.
The increasing yobbo element among young men and women is a deeply worrying issue for Australia.
But the work ethic, determination, principles and values demonstrated by the Honours recipients, and the many people who supported them in their cause, give us hope.
Hope that the mob mentality is but a passing phase of a still emerging nation with an ever-changing face.
Yesterday, that face was overwhelmingly one of contentment and pride.
Issued by goldcoast.com.au 27th January 2010
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/01/27/182455_editorial-news.html
About Me
- Trojan Corporate
- Trojan Corporate PTY LTD is a corporate compliance consultancy business formed in 1999 by Justin McGurgan to provide specialist management and consulting services to hospitality leisure industry. Trojan has a team of professional consultants and trainers dedicated to the development of effective and profitable solutions to the hospitality, tourism and retail industry.The team has a committment to outstanding service to each and every client ensuring responsiveness, accessibility, involvement and accountability.The Trojan team members have a wealth of knowledge and experience to offer our many and varied clients.