‘Today’ Host Brooke Boney Just Gave A Passionate Explanation For Why We Should #ChangeTheDate
"I can't separate the 26th of January from the fact that my brothers are more likely to go to jail than they are to go to school."
Today host Brooke Boney has delivered a passionate explanation for why the date of Australia Day needs to change, telling her co-hosts that January 26 is seen by many Indigenous people as “the beginning of the end”.
“I’m a Gamilaroi woman, my family is from Northern New South Wales, [we’ve] been there for about 60,000 years or so,” said Boney during a debate about the national holiday. “This is the best country in the world no doubt. But I can’t separate the 26th of January from the fact that my brothers are more likely to go to jail than they are to go to school, or that my little sisters and my mum are more likely to be beaten and raped than anyone else’s sisters or mum.”
“That started from that day, so for me, it’s a difficult day and I don’t want to celebrate it.”
The former triple j newsreader, who only joined the Channel Nine breakfast show this week following the axing of Karl Stefanovic, said she’d be happy to see Australia Day celebrated on another date.
“Any other day of the year I’ll tie an Australian flag around my neck and run through the streets with anyone else,” she said.
“My view is just move it to the day of federation, chuck on another public holiday at the end or just celebrate it on another day. But I think a day that suits more people is probably going to be more uniting.”
Watch the Today segment below.
“This is the best country in the world no doubt. But I can’t separate the 26th of January from the fact that my brothers are more likely to go to jail than they are to go to school” says @BoneyBrooke, a proud Gamilaroi woman. #9Today pic.twitter.com/fJRzobPeTG
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) January 16, 2019