Figured this should be made, so we can be royal again in the other thread…
Agreed! AFL is a nationally-celebrated sport, and it shouldn’t be a Melbourne-exclusive holiday.
I am still a little mad that Perth didn’t get a public holiday when we hosted the GF in 2021 
I think public holidays for sport events are stupid. Why do you need a public holiday before the AFL grand final is played? Makes absolutely no sense to me.
Also, why does everybody get a public holiday for a horse race? Why can’t Melburnians just celebrate it the way the rest of the country does? Take the afternoon off if you must, but what a waste of productivity to have everyone off for the whole day. Plus you then have to pay penalty rates to staff who work in venues that host events for Melbourne Cup Day.
i just want more days off man 
It’s hard being the events capital of Australia… just so much going on 
I know that a lot of people like to take the Monday off too, to give themselves a four day weekend.
But it will be interesting to see how long this public holiday continues with horse racing supposedly less and less accepted by society each year.
With the Melbourne Cup - agree that many in other states just take the afternoon off anyway, or have a “tea break” at 3pm, watch the race, and then go back to work. Melbourne should apply that system.
For the Friday before the AFL Grand Final as a public holiday? Really? In NSW and Queensland, they have the Labour Day on the Monday following the NRL Grand Final. Surely Victoria can have their Labour Day of the Friday prior to the AFL Grand Final…
Labor Day in Queensland is the first Monday in May. The PH post NRL GF is the King’s Birthday which everyone except WA has in June for now. I suspect once the protesters either are successful or are sick of protesting against Australia Day that this day would be next in the gun, for the protesters are increasingly changing their stance from “Change the Date” to “Abolish the Date” and “Abolish the System”, which this day is a part of.
Aah, yes. Thanks for clarifying the ph for Queensland. Yes, i now remember it beimg the Queens/Kings Birthday up there on that weekend.
Grand Final Eve (September) was named a PH cause there was not one between June (Kings Birthday) - November (Melbourne Cup).
We have so many in the first six months of the year, yet not so many in the second half of the year.
Keep September and November PH as they are. No need to change them.
Current VIC PH calendar - Victorian public holidays 2023 | Business Victoria
From memory didn’t Victoria have Show Day off as a public holiday just before the school holidays in September? I think this stopped in the Jeff Kennett days in the 90s.
Yep, was the afternoon of the Thursday from memory. Also Melbourne only as regionals could elect to take their own local day similar to cup day.
Jeez you sound fun
Because I don’t think sporting events warrant a public holiday. Get a grip, mate. Which other countries in the world devote public holidays to horse races or football finals?
You’re the one hyperventilating about a different states public holidays and going on about productivity like a young Liberal.
god forbid we lose productivity
days off and taking a break from work is a good thing for mental health
Good one, Comrade.
Not very Australian of you to not enjoy public holidays
I do enjoy them and I fully support them. I just think that our public holidays in Australia should be national public holidays like they are in most countries.
We shouldn’t have parochial public holidays in individual states, territories or cities. We shouldn’t be celebrating Labour Day or the King’s Birthday scattered throughout the calendar at different times of the year.
We have workers in our business in four different states. It’s ridiculous to disrupt business between our groups on so many different days throughout the year due to public holiday variations. Unite the country by having these public holidays on the same day in every place.
When NewsCorp starts making the observation that Australia Day is not what it used to be then maybe there will be widespread support for change.
Pic shows how much Australia has changed: ‘Feels like the wrong reason to have a day off’: Aus Day mood change noticeable at Bondi Beach