HOLIDAYS

AND SCHOOL TERMS

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT.

               

Some public holidays in Western Australia take place on a specific date each year but a few, will change from one year to the next. Likewise school terms may not be the same from one year to the next so we have provided a link to the Education Department's website that gives a list of years and the term dates for each.

One thing that complicates public holidays is when they are supposed to fall on a certain date but the day happens to be a weekend. In this case the public holiday is usually held on the following Monday.

Public holidays, for many people, are becoming meaningless as shops and businesses now often open on almost all public holiday days.

SCHOOL TERMS

Due to the fact that declared holidays sometimes fall on a weekend, the actual day off work (if you are lucky enough to get it these days) usually falls on the Monday immediately following the declared date. The table below lists the actual days the holiday is given on.

Due to the fact that declared holidays sometimes fall on a weekend, the actual day off work (if you are lucky enough to get it these days) usually falls on the Monday immediately following the declared date. The table below lists the actual days the holiday is given on.

The King's Birthday holiday may be taken at different times in regional areas and some regional areas may also have their own public holidays.

WHAT THE HOLIDAYS ARE FOR

Australia Day celebrates to founding of Australia by British settlers who arrived to settle New South Wales on January 26th 1788. To Aboriginal Australians this represents 'Invasion Day' and the start of their dispossession of the land. We support changing this date so that we can have a national day that everyone can celebrate.

Labour Day celebrates the granting of the eight hour working day ('Yeah sure!' I hear many workers today exclaim sarcastically).

Easter holidays are a Christian religious holiday.

ANZAC Day is to commemorate the sacrifices made by members of our armed forces who have served in war. It was originally to remember the original ANZACs who fought in World War One but today it is a remembrance day for everyone who has served in Australia's armed forces.

Foundation Day - now called Western Australia Day is a specific West Australian holiday and celebrates to establishment of European settlement here on June 1st 1829. There is possibly some grounds for debate over whether this should be our Foundation Day as the settlement at Albany had commenced in December 1826. We believe a more suitable and historically correct date would be January 21st as the was the date in 1827 that the western third of Australia was formally claimed for the British crown.

The Queen's Birthday is actually on April 21st but this is inconveniently close to Easter. Thus each state and territory works out when it will have this holiday and in Western Australia it is generally held around the time of the Royal Agricultural Show.

Christmas is a Christian religious holiday said to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ (more properly Yeshua). The date of the holiday, like the name Jesus is incorrect. August 22nd is a date often quoted as the real birthday of Jesus (or Yeshua) but this is not certain. Neither is the year of his birth. All that can be said with any accuracy (if indeed he even existed) is that he was born sometime between 4 BC and 6 AD. This tends to make a mockery of people who claim that years like 2000 had any significance at all.

The main reason for December 25th being chosen was probably because the early Christian church had a hard time stamping out pagan celebrations and late December was the mid-winter festival. The Christian holiday gradually took over and eventually replaced the pagan celebration. The first time Christmas was recorded celebrated on December 25th was in 336 AD in Rome. Later Pope Julius I declared this to be the birth date of Jesus/Yeshua - which of course it isn't.

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