26 January is Australia Day
Australia Day is what we might once have called a Clayton’s public holiday – the sort of public holiday which is neither public nor a holiday. We can still enjoy the leisure and summer warmth of an ersatz holiday. But, we should also spend some time asking what a holiday that genuinely brought together all Australians would look like.
Such a proper national day that was owned by all Australians would be shaped to heal ancient hurts and to reconcile those divided by our history. It would be sensitive to the history of the nation and be such that all Australians could celebrate with a light heart. For such a high purpose, the present shape of Australia Day is badly equipped. It makes the most significant event in shared Australian history the foreign invasion and the beginning of the dispossession and marginalisation of its original inhabitants. To name the day of the British landing in Sydney as a date that all Australians, including the descendants of the First Peoples, can celebrate is ignorant, condescending and brutal. It excludes from the celebration people with whom as Australians we must reconcile, and can only foster further discrimination. A large number of Australians recognise this and consequently accept the holiday as a day off work while being ashamed of its date.
That said, the present date of Australia Day, precisely because it is also a symbol of denial and rejection, is also helpful. Each year, it invites us Australians to reflect on our history and its unfinished business. It draws attention to the history of discrimination against Indigenous Australians and the shameful gap in health, in employment, in education, and most tragically in the increasing proportion of Indigenous people, including children who are held in detention under harsh conditions, too many of whom take their own lives in despair. Though designed to forget, Australia Day has become a day of memory.
How then might we celebrate Australia Day? First, we can be entranced by and celebrate the many thousands of years of a rich and creative Indigenous culture, its respect for the land, rich stories and ceremonies in which to celebrate it, and the tenacity and endurance of Indigenous Australians in clinging to their identity in the face of so many forces that crushed it.
We may also celebrate the lives of the European settlers and of their descendants who reached out to our Indigenous brothers and sisters, grieved with them and argued their cause. We may also honour the Australian settlers who have fought for a just and inclusive society. We may also immerse ourselves in the rich traditions of Indigenous art, film and music, and also the creative work of other Australians. And finally, we may recognise and struggle against the discriminatory treatment of Indigenous people, especially children, in the courts and in legislation. This mingling of celebration and sorrow will enrich Australia Day and prepare the way for its transfer to a more inclusive day.
