It claims this is the only way to protect Australia Day from the "activists who hate our country".

It wants legislation like last year's Private Member's Bill put forward by the LNP Member for Bowman, which would prevent the January 26 date being changed without a referendum.

On cue, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has accused Woolworths of peddling woke agendas and trying to cancel Australia Day.

He has urged patriotic Australians to boycott Woolworths over a decision not to sell Australia Day merchandise this year.

What is Australia Day merchandise? Apart from flags which are stocked all year round, my Google search brought up a "Happy Australia Day cookie cutter" as the lead item.

The good news is, if you need to cut out biscuits in the shape of Australia you can order a cookie cutter online.

Why does the Opposition Leader feel such outrage at suggestions that Australia Day might be shifted to a less controversial date? Why is the hoisting of the British flag at Sydney Cove so central to Australian identity?

Other countries celebrate independence on their national days, not the arrival of a colonial power.

Alternative things to celebrate include Australia's history as a relatively peaceful democracy, one of the few nations to vote itself into existence with referendums.

If we were to celebrate the arrival of the democracy sausage rather than the First Fleet we could move the date.

May 9 would be a good date, celebrating the opening of the Australian Parliament in 1901, as well as the opening of the provisional Parliament House in 1927 and the new Parliament House in 1988.

It would be unlikely to be marked by protest marches.

The only problem is, it's a bit close to Anzac Day. Anyone who wants to see what outrage looks like need only question any aspect of Anzac commemorations, as Professor Marilyn Lake can attest.

The Opposition Leader's outrage over the failure of Woolworths to sell Australia Day cookie cutters signals the start of a long "anti-woke" campaign leading up to the 2025 federal election.

It parallels Republican anti-woke campaigning in the US, engaged in both by Trump and his rivals.

The call for the Woolworths boycott parallels US boycotts last year of allegedly woke corporations and the launch of the "patriot economy".

One of the companies boycotted by US conservatives was Target, which had displayed Pride merchandise in its stores.

Given the attempt to wage a culture war on trans rights in the 2022 Australian election, we might see something similar here.

The war on woke fits in well with Dutton's declared aim of distancing the Liberals from its past identity as the party of big business.

It is targeted at corporations taking up gender and climate change issues and can also be used against electoral third parties like Climate 200.

An anti-woke stance supposedly helps realign the party as the friend of workers and small business owners.

Already in 2019 Prime Minister Scott Morrison was criticising shareholders and other investors who were pressuring banking, insurance and superannuation funds to end their involvement with the fossil fuel industry.

He threatened to introduce legislation to prevent this kind of activism, which had resulted in a boycott of investment in Adani's Carmichael coalmine.

This new form of political participation, called by political scientist Erin O'Brien "political investorism", has helped ignite the war on woke.

Last year in the US, Republican legislators in 37 states introduced bills to prevent the use of environmental, social and governance criteria to screen investments.

While the result of the Voice referendum may encourage the belief that an anti-woke campaign will be a winner, last year's Australia Institute survey suggested that the majority of Australians were either unfamiliar with the term or regarded themselves as woke.

A higher proportion of women than men described themselves as woke, perhaps not a surprise.

There has been a tendency to belittle women's policy preferences in recent conservative campaigning.

One example is the contempt expressed during the 2004 federal election for "doctors' wives" - women in affluent electorates concerned over the Iraq War, environmental and refugee issues.

The 2022 Liberal Party review of its 2022 federal election campaign expressed particular concern over its results in seats with high numbers of female professionals. Following the election it held only three of the top 30 seats ranked by proportion of women in the labour force.

The war on woke will do nothing to repair this gender gap. Nor will it repair the increasingly divisive nature of celebrating Australia Day on 26 January.