Right-wing campaign groups and Coalition MPs are again using Australia Day to drive petitions, wedge politics and anti-elite rhetoric. This year’s campaign is being amplified by paid digital ads, ARC grant outrage and calls to “legislate the date”.

While some may be dozing on the beach, for others January is the time for firing up the culture wars. Advance, the digital campaign organisation, is telling us ‘It’s time to take back Australia Day from the people who hate it – the activists and elites’.

In 2024 Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was at the forefront of this culture war – urging ‘patriotic Australians’ to boycott Woolworths for not stocking Australia Day merchandise and trying to cancel Australia Day. Liberal MP Andrew Hastie joined that campaign, paying for ads saying: ‘It’s our day. Don’t let corporate elites change it’.

This year Liberal culture war warriors already have their Australia Day ads up and running on Meta and Instagram. On 13 January the Meta ad library showed the multiple ads already paid for by Coalition MPs. Garth Hamilton, LNP member for Groom had different versions of his anti-immigration message ‘Put Australians First This Australia Day’ while Rick Wilson, Liberal MP for O’Connor wanted viewers to ‘Sign the petition to ban burning the flag’.

Advance, which tripled its income after its success with the ‘No’ campaign on the Voice, has........

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