November 5 – Guy Fawkes Night, Celebrated Throughout The Commonwealth Except Australia
Yeah but who’s Guy Fawkes anyway?
What..? Not another chapter left out of the Australian History syllabus. – Guy and a few mates tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament (and in particular the House of Lords) in London UK, back in 1605. The plot failed, Guy got caught, convicted of treason and summarily executed.
Ever since then, the English (and in later years the British and nowadays all its colonies) have celebrated the failed plot by burning an effigy of Guy Fawkes and letting off heaps of fireworks on the 5th November each year. This gave rise to its more colloquial names of ‘Bonfire Night‘ or ‘Fireworks Night‘.
Enter the Nanny State… Australia.
The Australian authorities, in their infinite wisdom, have banned the sale of fireworks to the general public. Fire in the hands of the general public is dangerous!
Are you serious?
Fire is the very thing that dragged us out of the Stone Age and it wasn’t done by specially trained personnel, no it was done by Joe Public, you and me. Seems to me the Australian authorities want to send us straight back to the Stone Age with their prehistoric rules and regulations.
Cut a long story short, No Guy Fawkes Night here in Australia.
You can have a pumpkin though! Cut a few holes in it and mug an old lady for sweets, that’s all fine and dandy and we’ll call it Halloween.
Perhaps its a bit more sinister than that.
Guy Fawkes is olde English… and highlights our links with the UK whereas Halloween is more American and a break with the Queen. Do I sense a lean towards a Republic by the Australian Government?
Hmmm…
Tags: authorities, bonfire