Sorry Bonnie ... and friends: Just 15% of Aussies support moving the date of Australia Day - despite celebrity-driven bleeding heart campaign

  • Only 15 per cent of Australians would like Australia Day moved to another date 
  • 68 per cent feel positive towards the national holiday on January 26 
  • The majority of Indigenous Australians, 54 per cent, wanted the date changed 
  • The poll was undertaken by McNair yellowSquares and interviewed 1,156 people 

By Riley Morgan For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 22:57 EST, 26 January 2017 | Updated: 23:20 EST, 26 January 2017

Even with celebrities jumping behind the social movement to change the date of Australia Day, only 15 per cent of Australians would consider moving the day. 

Despite tens of thousands of protesters marching around Australia call for the day to be change, a new national poll revealed 85 per cent of Australians would like to celebrate Australia Day on January 26.

The poll also showed an overwhelming 68 per cent of Australians feel positive about the national holiday.  

This comes as TV hosts, actors and politicians jumped behind the #changethedate campaign on Australia Day. 

Pia Miller marked Australia Day by posting a black and white map of Australia that highlighted Indigenous groups, to honour of native Australians

Osher Gunsberg re-posted an activist's call for Australia to celebrate the longest living culture in the world, its Indigenous population 

'I hope this is the last Australia Day on the day we invaded your country': Home and Away actress Bonnie Sveen (left) led the calls to #changethedate. Meantime, actor Hugh Sheridan (right) called for national unity and equality for 'those who were here first'

Thousands marched in the Australia Day protests in Sydney on Thursday 

19 per cent of Australians felt indifferent about the day, 7 per cent had mixed feelings and 6 per cent felt poorly about January 26 as a national holiday.

A plethora of TV hosts, actors and politicians joined the social media movement at #changethedate trended on twitter on Thursday. 

'I'm just sick of these people... political correctness gone mad': Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce teed off about 'miserable' people trying to make people 'feel guilty' in an Australia Day spray on Thursday (file photo)

Celebrities such as Singer Natalie Imbruglia, Home and Away star Bonnie Sveen, Neighbours identity Caitlin Stasey and Bacehlor host Osher Gunsberg all put their voice behind the movement. 

'#Invasionday2017 stand in solidarity with those whose homes and civil liberties have yet to be restored to them,' Ms Stasey wrote to Instagram.

With celebrities joining forces, Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce took to the 'miserable' people trying to make people 'feel guilty' for celebrating Australia Day. 

Despite the majority of the population in favour of keeping the date, 31 per cent of Indigenous Australians felt negative towards Australia Day and 30 per cent had mixed feelings, according to The Guardian. 

The strongest response from the Indigenous Australian pollsters was in favour of changing the date of Australia Day. 

Up to 54 per cent of Indigenous Australians wanted to change the date, compared to just 15 per cent overall. 

Police arrested two men during the protests which resulted in a scuffle

Two women show of their Australian pride in flag-themed bikinis complete with a flag hat and inflatable ring

Across the 1,156 people questioned in the poll, the most common words associated with Australia Day were barbecue, celebration and holiday. 

But the chosen words for the Indigenous Australians interviewed were more macabre with invasion, survival and murder the three most common words.

A majority of Indigenous Australians also wanted the name to be changed. 

The poll was taken between 19 and 23 of January leading up to Australia Day.  

A majority of the Indigenous Australians interviewed wanted the name to be changed

A group of friends posed underneath the Australian flag as they tried to cool down from the sweltering summer heat by the water

 

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