SYDNEY -- Late January can be unbearably hot in Australia, with dry westerly winds shriveling the inland and bringing the threat of bushfires to many communities. Tennis players wilt in extreme temperatures on center court at the Australian Open, and people everywhere seek to cool off at the beach, the pool and inland waterways.
Almost as predictable as these 40-plus degrees Celsius temperatures in the last week of January is a hotting up of Australia's annual political debate on whether the country's national day should be moved from Jan. 26.
