The occasion
remembers the granting on 1 May 1884 of the 8 hour working day, dividing each day equally in to 8 hours of work, rest and play, hence being
called May Day.
For me, the occasion
is also a reminder of Government absurdity.
The
Queensland Government under Premier Anna Bligh wanted a more even spread of
public holidays throughout the year believing too many were in the first half
of the year. There was some merit to this.
This was
achieved by moving the Queen’s Birthday holiday to October. While some
traditionalists and a few Monarchists complained, the general
acceptance was the holiday designated “Queens Birthday” has nothing to do with
“Her” birthday. Interestingly, this public holiday occurs when it does due to the
high probability of reasonable weather in the Northern Hemisphere.
Getting back to Government absurdity.
The
Government changed in March 2012 when the Campbell Newman led LNP won in a
landslide.
There had
been a bitter campaign with much personal abuse and mudslinging, however the
size of the victory was such that there was much optimism about the potential
reform that would follow.
Getting down
to work meant addressing spiralling State Debt and interest liabilities,
shortening wait times in Public Hospitals and initiating infrastructure
projects, at least you would think that would be the priority.
But no,
Premier Newman announced the swapping of the May Day and Queens Birthday
Holidays meaning May Day would be celebrated in October.
In my view,
this was an act of sheer hatred and unnecessary bastardry. If the Government
had an issue with the Queen’s Birthday Holiday not being in June, move it. In my opinion, prioritising this action deliberately upsetting traditional Labour Supporters and
Unionists symbolised pettiness and absurdity. It also set the tone for a
Government which would be thrown out less than 3 years later with a reputation
for not caring, poor communication and recklessness.
Enjoy May Day Queensland
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