Graduate at Banki Haddock Fiora Lawyers. Part of the 9Now team helping to deliver the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics coverage. Graduated with an LLB / BJourn from USC.
I don’t often delve into the world of politics, but a conversation I had the other day got me thinking. Today marks Australia Day, or January 26th, and with that comes the now annual conversation around what exactly this date means and whether it should, or should not, be changed. I feel that often a lot of the issue surrounding this conversation is how people approach it. Generally, I’ve found that a lot of people become very combative and have an attitude of ‘I’m right and you’re wrong’ which just leads to the conversation going round in circles. I think it’s an important conversation to have, especially if it is done in the right way, so I will attempt to respectfully put my thoughts and opinion on the topic into words. Not all of you may agree with me or everything I say in this post, and that’s okay, but hopefully you can at least see my point of view and understand where I’m coming from. Growing up for me, and I’m sure a lot of other Australians, Australia Day was a day to celebrate the amazing multicultural country we live in and what it means to be Australian. I believe that the majority, if not all, Australian’s who celebrate the day are not doing so to mark the landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 and raising of the British flag, the colonisation of Australia, or even the anniversary of the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 coming into effect on this day in 1949. I also believe that the majority, if not all, Australians don’t celebrate out of a hatred or ill will towards the Indigenous population. As a proud Indigenous man I know I am not personally offended or hurt by the date as I have never once thought about Australia Day being a celebration of what occurred way back when. In saying that, I am also acutely aware that I never had to live through the stolen generation or experience some of the horrendous and traumatic things that my Indigenous ancestors had to. I, like most, associate Australia Day as being a day to spend with friends and/or family around the BBQ, playing beach cricket, and a day in which we as a collective nation can celebrate what Australia and its culture is, and more importantly, what it could be. Therefore the date itself is irrelevant to me. I say all that to say this, if the meaning of the day for people like me and so many others is not associated with historical events which happened on January 26th then why not just move the date to one which doesn't raise feelings of generational trauma and hurt for so many of the Indigenous population? A date which we can all get behind, and create tradition around, to celebrate our nations Indigenous roots as well as all the other cultures and traditions which make our nation so diverse and unique? The Australia Day public holiday wasn’t even nationally celebrated on January 26th until 1994 so why can’t we just go back to celebrating it on a floating date in late Jan / early Feb which would guarantee a long weekend and help us all move forward as a nation?
