when was australia day first celebrated as a public holiday
Australia Day 1818 was the 30th anniversary of the founding of the colony, and Governor Lachlan Macquarie chose to acknowledge the day with the first official celebration.[18] The Governor declared that the day would be a holiday for all government workers, granting each an extra allowance of "one pound [c. 450g] of fresh meat", and ordered a 30-gun salute at Dawes Point â€“ one for each year that the colony had existed.[19] This began a tradition that was retained by the Governors that were to follow.[15]