# Western Australians don't celebrate the Queen's Birthday?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-australians-dont-celebrate-the-queens-birthday/360466>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 12, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-australians-dont-celebrate-the-queens-birthday/360466 "2006-06-12T19:24:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-australians-dont-celebrate-the-queens-birthday/360466/1 "2006-06-12T19:24:42Z")

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Looking at my (US) calendar today, I see that it says, “QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY (AUSTRALIA EXC. WA)”. So, what’s the scoop? Western Australia doesn’t like the Queen as much?

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**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-australians-dont-celebrate-the-queens-birthday/360466/2 "2006-06-12T19:35:05Z")

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I guess us Brits mustn’t like her either. I’ve got a friend in Bermuda, though, and they love dear ol’ Liz.

Seriously: in some places, it’s a public holiday. In other places, it’s not. And Wikipedia tells me that it’s too close to Western Australia’s [Foundation Day](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen's_Birthday) to justify another day off. And anyway, it’s not even her real birthday, the selfish cow.

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**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-australians-dont-celebrate-the-queens-birthday/360466/3 "2006-06-12T19:39:28Z")

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I dug up the [Public Holidays list](http://www.docep.wa.gov.au/lr/LabourRelations/Content/Wages%20and%20Conditions/Public%20Holidays/Public_Holidays.html) for Western Australia. They celebrate it. Just at a different time. And they allow local municipalities to change the date at will too.

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**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2006, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/western-australians-dont-celebrate-the-queens-birthday/360466/4 "2006-06-12T19:48:04Z")

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Australia doesn’t celebrate Her Majesty’s birthday on the right day, because it’s too close to other holidays, i.e., Easter\* and Anzac Day. So it gets shifted to another part of the year, because you don’t want to waste a good excuse for a holiday. And the decision is made state by state, not federally, so it’s possible for Western Australia to be different.

- Yes, I know that Easter is not a holiday in the secular republic of the USA, but Australians get Good Friday and Easter Monday off. Some even get half of Holy Thursday and/or Easter Tuesday, to make it into a really good long weekend.