The truth of Australia Day.... This is information that all Australians need to know. Especially those that believe it has to do with how anybody was treated. People should learn the true facts before opening their mouth to spew falsehood. This information was authored by Peter Lee - it should be taught to all Australians. 'Below is the reason Australia day is celebrated on 26 January Here are the Facts about Australia Day but don’t expect the media to educate you with these facts as it is not part of their agenda 1. Australia Day does not celebrate the arrival of the first fleet or the invasion of anything 2. Captain Cook did not arrive in Australia on the 26th January. The landing of Captain Cook in Sydney happened on the 28th April 1770 – not on 26th January. 3. The first fleet arrived in Botany Bay on 18th January. The 26th was chosen as Australia Day for a very different and important reason. The 26th of January is the day Australians received their independence from British Rule. However, Captain Cook’s landing was included in Australian bi-centenary celebrations of 1988 when Sydney-siders decided Captain Cook’s landing should become the focus of the Australia Day commemoration. Sadly the importance of this date for all Australians has begun to fade and now a generation later, it is all but lost. The media as usual is happy to twist the truth for the sake of controversy. Captain Cook didn’t land on the 26th January, so changing the date of any celebration of Captain Cook’s landing would not have any impact on Australia Day, but maybe it would clear the way for the truth about Australia Day. Australians of today abhor what was done under British governance to the Aborigines, the Irish and many other cultures around the world. So after the horrors of WW11, we decided to try and fix it. We became our own people. On 26th January 1949, the Australian nationality came into existence when the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 was enacted. That was the day we were first called Australians and allowed to travel with passports as Australians and NOT British subjects. In 1949 therefore, we all became Australian citizens under the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948. Before that special date, all people living in Australia, including Aborigines, were called ‘British Subjects’ and forced to travel on British passports and fight in British wars. This is why we celebrate Australia Day on the 26th January. This was the day Australians became free to make our own decisions about which wars we would fight and how our citizens would be treated. It was the day we were all declared Australians. Until this date,Aborigines were not protected by law For the first time since Captain Cook’s landing this new Act gave Aboriginal Australians the full protection of Australian Law. This is why 26th January is the day new Australians receive their citizenship It is a day which celebrates the implementation of the Nationality of Citizenship Act of 1948 –The Act which gave freedom and protection to the first Australians and gives all Australians, old and new, the right to live under the protection of the Australian Law”, united as one nation. What was achieved that day is something for which all Australians can be proud. Isn’t it time therefore that all Australians were taught the real reason we celebrate Australia Day on 26th January? In one way or another, we are ALL descendants of Australia ALL OF US. So we should ALL be celebrating and giving thanks for the freedoms, the lifestyles and opportunities that we currently enjoy, thanks to the strengths and battles of our ancestors.' PASS THIS INFORMATION ON TO ALL YOUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS