It's not the first change, HOLA, but I hope it's the last. It has been done to appease a minority but, sadly, that minority who wanted the change now want more. Our anthem was voted on in a plebiscite and is the one that the majority voted for and as we are a democracy that should be the end of it.

Thanks RnR - they are just beautiful.

Lets hope so Albert Ross. I watched the Australia Day ceremony on TV last night and I did think the display on Sydney Harbour was excellent, especially the Opera House with pictures of Australian themes on the sails. I only hope that we keep 26th January for Australia Day and let the others pick a date that will represent them.

Big Thongs unveiled as new tourist attraction at country pub in Calen, north of Mackay.

Publican Gavin Butlin said a group of mates were inspired to make the thongs after trying to think of ways to increase tourism to the small town located on the Bruce Highway. Lionel Knott, the creator, went touring around the world recently and left Australia in a pair of thongs coming back in the same pair of thongs, albeit nearly worn through. So thongs it was.

Mr Knott said it was his first sculpture, "They're basically built from conveyor belt rubber … sourced locally from the mines. I had to cut them out with a Stanley knife, which was one of the hardest things I've had to do. It was hard material to work with".

Full ABC story.

Yes Hola

It was an excellent sight

A lot better than the polluting fireworks display

RnR

I hope the thongs bring a lot of tourists to the township

I read that from today some people will not have to wear masks whilst shopping, but it is still recommended. I was having a lunch with my sister yesterday and as we sat down at the table, I said to her, it looked like it hadn't been cleaned properly. I asked the waitress if she could clean the table down for us. She looked quite indignant but cleaned it anyway, with Windex??? After she left my sister put some hand sanitizer on it and the serviette was quite brown, I think all the tables were the same, sticky. Do these people know the rules for table hygiene? I don't think so. We won't be going there again.

I don't much care for the change either, though I do agree with the reason for it. I'd rather a whole new anthem.

It's funny to hear people get defensive about changes to the dreary old dirge. It's been hacked around and fiddled with over the years. Even whole verses have been chopped off. That line from the second verse about having boundless plains to share if you come from across the sea is a beauty. Not sure how many boundless plains there are on Xmas Island. Probably more than enough for four people though.

Now if only we could get rid of 'girt'. Makes it sound like the country has another name, Gertrude - Girt for short.

Oh, and those who will continue to sing young and free, do you all still sing Australian sons let us rejoice too?

I’d rather a whole new anthem ... I'm with you Leonie.

The original lyrics were written in 1878 by the Scottish-born composer Peter Dodds McCormick, the song was first performed in 1878 and sung in Australia as a patriotic song.

Interesting to read the early verses ... very much "Brittania rules the waves" IMO.

Time for something completely new IMO.

This is my favourite version of the anthem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WagZcq3Xehg&ab_channel=PrimeMover

The last Holden car built in Australia sells for $750,000 at auction on Saturday.

The bright red 2017 Holden VF was the last vehicle to be assembled, welded together and painted in an auto body shop on Australian soil. According to auctioneers Lloyds, workers at Australia’s now-shuttered Holden factories took photos with the car and held signs emblazoned with the words “last Holden”. The car also bears the number plate FINL 01.

Full Brisbane Times story.

Some people have more money than sense :)

The strange story of how Russian Cossacks fled civil war to be peanut farmers in Katherine.

Men involved in the 1918–20 Russian Civil War migrated to Katherine in the 1920s, Katherine Museum.

In the 1920s, a small group of Russian men from one of the world's coldest climates found their way to the NT and grew peanuts in the formidable tropical heat. Katherine Museum's local historian Simone Croft said many men were from aristocratic families. "They had a huge skill set. They were artists, musicians, and had been to conservatoriums and done degrees on classical music," she said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2021-02-01/cossacks-fled-civil-war-to-be-peanut-farmers/13102114

January 2021 Photo of the Week prize winner from News Ltd.

Full story and more photos.