The ute-loving and Southern Cross-tattooed singer-songwriter we know as Shannon Noll has revealed he supports changing the date of Australia Day in respect to Indigenous Australians.
Speaking from the South African jungle on the set of reality TV show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! last night, Noll discussed the prospect of changing the date with his fellow contestant boxer Danny Green, and surprised some fans with his stance on 26th January.
“If that day represents obviously pain and heartache for our original, native Australians, then I think they are as proud Australians as any of us, so I would be up for maybe moving it to a day that they are happy and we are happy and everyone is happy, but not lose the day,” Noll said.
“If it offends our original Australians, I would be quite happy to talk about a date that suits everybody that doesn’t represent a bloodshed day for them.”
Green didn’t agree, though, arguing the date should stay where it is.
“It is not a day that is going to go away so where would you like to move it?” he asked. “You either scrap the day altogether and no one ever came here and colonised the land.
“I was raised well and truly by my father teaching me all about indigenous culture and who the traditional land owners are, who to respect and why to respect them. I am truly across it, so I’ve got no interest in getting involved in a politically skewed conversation here.
“We are not talking about Cadbury’s confectionary, we are talking about something that is a very political conversation.”
Watch Nollsie explain why he’d back changing the date, below. His comments come after triple j caused controversy late last year by moving the date of its annual Hottest 100 countdown away from 26th January.
Noll is scheduled to tour the country in May, off the back of his new album Unbroken.
"I would be quite happy to talk about a date that suits everybody" – @NOLLSIE on Australia Day. #ImACelebrityAU pic.twitter.com/0J9Tnq8L7S
— #ImACelebrityAU (@ImACelebrityAU) February 6, 2018
