Waleed Aly calls for Australia Day to be moved… and reveals how it will give YOU extra holidays

With Australia Day just two sleeps away, debate has again erupted the prospect of moving the date away from January 26.

This time around, TV host Waleed Aly, 40, has come up with a plan to give Australians a longer holiday if the date is in fact changed.

In a segment titled ‘Annual Leave Hack’ on The Project on Thursday, viewers were told if they took eight days of leave over Christmas-New Year, from December 21 to January 6, they could get 17 days off using just eight days annual leave. 

Aly said: ‘If we moved Australia Day to December 19, that makes that 18 days off. And if it happened to fall on a Monday or a Friday then that could become 20 [days off].’

Waleed then jokingly added: ‘I believe, irrespective of political difference, I have just solved the Australia Day debate.’ 

There have been calls for Australia Day to be moved from January 26 as way of respecting the sovereignty of Australia’s Aboriginal people.

Light-bulb moment: With Australia Day just two sleeps away, debate has again erupted the prospect of moving the date away from January 26. But controversial TV host Waleed (left), 40, has come up with a plan to give Australians a longer holiday if the date is in fact changed

Project host Aly is no stranger to controversy.

In December last year, Waleed came under fire after admitting that he struggled to understand the importance of Boxing Day sales to everyday Australians.

Speaking on The Project, the academic-turned-broadcaster told co-hosts Gorgi Coghlan and Dave Thornton that he ‘didn’t quite understand it’.

Holiday hokum! In a segment titled ‘Annual Leave Hack’ on The Project on Thursday, viewers were told if they took eight days of leave over Christmas-New Year, from December 21 to January 6, they could get 17 days off using just eight days annual leave

Aly said: ‘If we moved Australia Day to December 19, that makes that 18 days off. And if it happened to fall on a Monday or a Friday then that could become 20 [days off].’ Waleed then jokingly added: ‘I believe, irrespective of political difference, I have just solved the Australia Day debate’

‘With the Christmas festival, there’s a lot of spending in the lead-up to said festival, so aren’t people sick of spending money by the time Boxing Day arrives?’ he asked.

The segment outraged some viewers, who felt Waleed’s comments demonstrated that he does not understand the financial realities faced by many Australians.

After the show had finished, members of the public took to social media to express their frustration over his remarks about discount shopping.

Curious question: In December last year, Waleed came under fire after admitting that he struggled to understand the importance of Boxing Day sales. ‘With the Christmas festival, there’s a lot of spending in the lead-up to said festival, so aren’t people sick of spending money by the time Boxing Day arrives?’ he asked

To shop or not to shop? Waleed’s comments divided viewers, with some agreeing with him and others suggesting he does not understand the financial realities faced by many Australians

‘Because not everyone gets paid a ridiculous amount of money to talk s**t for an hour that no one cares about,’ one angry viewer wrote. ‘Some people need to rely on cheap sales to afford expensive stuff.’

Another commented: ‘Most people don’t get paid millions of dollars each year to sit on their a**es in front a camera dribbling s**t like Waleed.’

Amid the outrage, some more level-headed viewers offered their theories as to why Boxing Dale sales remain so popular.

‘Many people receive money and vouchers for Christmas,’ one person wrote. 

‘It’s a fantastic way to spend your money knowing the prices will be marked down. Others too like to buy up for next Christmas.’ 

In the frame: Amid the outrage, some more level-headed viewers offered their theories as to why Boxing Dale sales remain so popular. ‘Many people receive money and vouchers for Christmas,’ one person wrote