As my son was born on the Winter Solstice, which goes hand in hand with a Tasmanian penchant for a dodgy backyard bonfire at any opportunity, I'm definitely in the "I'd turn up for the opening of an envelope" brigade. So if it must be something else, so be it.

Still, as an atheist, I'm happy to stick with Christmas. It is gazetted, after all, and the last thing I want is politicians taking my public holidays off me.

The spirit of Christmas really is just wise people showing up to give kids who haven't got much a present.

I'm not a fan of the "designed for landfill" commercialism. Handmade Christmas cards and decorating the tree with that paper chain your kid made 10 years ago are much more rewarding, anyway.