So. About this Australia Day-hijab-billboard thing.

A billboard promoting Australia Day celebrations that featured two girls in hijabs has been taken down from a site in Melbourne after threats and abuse were directed at the advertising company.

Of course, the UPF had their say:

The United Patriots Front, a far-right group opposed to immigration, published an image of the billboard on its Facebook page on January 13, which has since been widely shared.

‘State government billboard in Cranbourne spotted by a supporter — they’re making every effort to redefine your nation and gradually erase you from history,’ the post read.

And, also of course, so did the Greens:

Greens Leader and Victorian Richard Di Natale said he was ‘disgusted’ the campaign to remove the billboard was successful.

‘Islamophobia is a genuine threat to Australian democracy and to the multicultural society that the vast majority of Australians cherish,’ he said.

‘We must stand against racial hatred wherever we encounter it, and stand with those communities suffering from its vile effects.’

We – conservatives, patriots – have been saying all along that Australia Day is an occasion for Australians of all races, creeds, and backgrounds to celebrate this nation we all love. (I still do, in exile: there’s a sizable Aussie expat community in Boston.) They’ll only agree when it suits their agenda.

In fact, we were saying last year, when Lee Rhiannon called ‘Invasion Day’ an ‘annual insult’ to Aboriginals and Islanders. She used the occasion to call for a wash of separatist policies, including ‘stand-alone Aboriginal heritage laws’ and ‘compensation for the Stolen Generations’.

This is rank hypocrisy on the Greens’ part. (I know, quelle surprise!) Their ilk have spent decades tirelessly politicising Australia Day. They’ve used it as a stage from which to broadcast their narrow, ideological vision of ‘true’ Australia. The UPF is just following their lead.

Truth be told, I understand where the ‘far-right’ is coming from. They don’t want these loud multiculturalist gestures to be a condition of their celebrating Australia Day. The offenderati have made it clear: they don’t think patriotic thongs, singlets, and stubbie-holders have anything to do with ‘Australian-ness’, but Islamic headscarves do. The UPF & co. resent that. So do I. And you probably do, too.

Hopefully, the Invasion Day Brigades will learn from this unpleasantness and use Australia Day 2018 to call for civic unity, national pride, and affection for their countrymen. And hopefully, mighty Thor rides Bifröst down from Asgard, bringing sweet rain to the parched African plains.

A man can dream.

Illustration: Facebook