MP Patrick Gorman, the federal Labor member for Perth, wants to ditch the 26th of January as the day to celebrate Australia Day. The date was chosen to commemorate the arrival of Captain Phillip and the First Fleet, bringing Western Civilization to the continental mass that is now called Australia. He sees nothing to celebrate in the date. He said, ‘When I look at the things I love about Australia Day, none of them are intrinsically connected to the date of January 26.’ It’s an astounding admission.

How does he think the building he works in came to be there, and the moral and political purpose for which it was built? Did it just materialise out of his fantasies? Or is it one of those things Bruce Pascoe forgot to include in his fairy tale about pre-settlement Australia. Or is Gorman part of the campaign to reinvent Aboriginal history? ADVANCE AUSTRALIA website puts some pertinent questions to someone who is either a fool or a traitor.