As has now been well reported, a large group of men led by Thomas Sewell, the leader of the neo-nazi National Socialist Network, boarded a train at Artarmon (a small, quiet, suburban train station on Sydney’s north shore) where they claimed they were travelling to the City to participate in Australia Day events. This is also where large ‘Invasion Day’ rallies were taking place. 

NSW Police acted promptly and decisively where they intercepted the group at North Sydney Station. Six were arrested and 57 were issued with Rail Infringement Notices and prevented from continuing their journey and attending Australia Day events in the City.  

The group then walked up the Pacific Highway from North Sydney back to Artarmon, escorted by police cars and a police helicopter. There is some commentary that the group had travelled to Sydney from Victoria.

The following Sunday they were also seen gathering at a local Artarmon park where the police again acted quickly.

I follow politics and the news cycle closely every day through my work as a political commentator and campaigner. This is sadly far from the first time I’ve seen such a group gather and intimidate in this way in Australia and ASIO has been raising the alarm about a rise in neo-nazi groups for some time. However, seeing neo-nazis in my local community, in locations that are so familiar, is frightening and a strong reminder that none of us are immune or protected by where and how we live.

In recent years, Australia Day has become an issue where the views of an increasing number of people in our community have evolved to be more aligned with the views of Indigenous Australians and their concerns with this day. Politicians such as Peter Dutton and others, are increasingly using tactics straight out of the Trump playbook to whip up nationalism against these views through outrage and division.

Starting in early January, Australia Day has become a standard day in the calendar for these Trump-like tactics where this year we also saw violent attacks at various Woolworths stores as a direct outcome of Peter Dutton’s (and other’s) nationalistic calls.

Such tactics by politicians can’t work in isolation. They feed the agenda-led 24/7 mainstream news cycle of a highly disrupted mainstream media sector – whose revenue model now largely relies on how many listen to and watch shock jocks and click to read outrage headlines. This then flows to and amplifies across social media platforms which are mostly unregulated and unmoderated.  

It’s these tactics, these ‘ecosystems of outrage’ which are deliberately put into play by politicians and media again and again over a range of issues. Rinse. Repeat. 

These deliberate and predictable tactics find their audience through a ground ripe with social division. The annual Scanlon Report (out of Monash University), recently showed we are more divided now than at any time since the report’s commencement 16 years ago. The Report, which measures Australia’s social cohesion, found the “relentless cost-of-living pressure, rising interest rates, uncertainty about the direction of the economy and growing concern about inequality has undermined Australia’s sense of social cohesion”. The pandemic and The Voice also contributed. 

Throughout history we’ve seen populist politicians take advantage of social division with the most terrible and tragic outcomes. Those of us who are watching, clearly see history repeating, certainly overseas and increasingly here in Australia where we are also vulnerable to the global shift to populist politicians and parties. 

This concerning and highly charged environment coincides with 40 countries holding their elections this year (the most in a single year in history) including the US, UK, Canada, Germany, The EU and Indonesia. It is not alarmist to say that democracy is at risk.

Australia also has multiple elections – state/territory elections in QLD, NT and ACT – and council elections in Vic and NSW with media reporting the plans of fringe groups in some of these elections.

As I highlighted last year for the Women’s Agenda Keynotes series – the solution is in our hands. It requires our active, positive and inclusive participation in our democracy within our communities, and using the power of our compulsory vote to ensure we elect representatives who prioritise our interests in their actions and decision making. 

Our participation in our democracy is also perhaps the most profound legacy we can leave to our kids and our grandkids. I was reminded of this when I made that phone call to my eldest daughter warning her about the group of neo-nazis in our local area.

No one is coming to save us but us. We all have a role to play to support and strengthen our democracy. It’s time to step up!

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A much more likely approach to receiving such accolades is to pursue services to ‘business’ to ‘law’ and even to the “Anglican Church”.

For the second year in a row, a slightly higher number of women than men have been recognised in the general division of the Australia Day honours list, at 50.5 per cent. This continued progress is welcome. But at this rate, we still have decades ahead before the overall gender gap in who has been recognised since 1975 closes altogether.

Analysing words used in describing the services offered by the 739 Australians to be recognised this year, the word ‘care’ rarely comes up.

According to this analysis of the description fields, just one Australian has been celebrated for their work in childcare, with Louise Maiden receiving an award for her services to primary and early childhood education. 

Just two have ‘aged care” in their award description, including Deborah Parker, a registered nurse specialising in aged care now pursuing vital research work on palliative care for older people Not one recipient has the term ‘disability care’ in their award description, although there are others who have received recognition for their disability advocacy work, including Ellie Cole.

To put these figures in perspective, it helps to consider some of the more prominent areas highlighted. 

There are 36 individuals with ‘business’ in their award description. Another 25 have the word ‘law’ in their description, while 13 mention ‘media’. Science is also highly represented, with 26 mentions. 

There are twelve mentions of ‘church’, with ‘Anglican Church’ dominating this list with five mentions. 

While there are 76 recipients with the word ‘education’ in their award description, with most of their work being in academia or in offering education services to key industries – rather than in primary or second education, or in early childhood education.

One mention of childcare was the same as one mention of ‘for service to lawn bowls’.

The word ‘care’ is only mentioned eight times across the list of 700 plust Australians recognised, mostly this is related to healthcare. 

Overall, and as with previous years, the majority of the awards have been given for services to the Community, at 310, followed by medicine at 77, and then sport and leisure, at 58.

It should be noted that some recognition in this year’s list for supporting and advocating for key communities — such as multicultural communities, Indigenous communities and migrant communities — may not carry the word ‘care’ in the description of services but would incorporate care, including Dr Sabrin Farooqui, who we spoke to on her own a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her services to community and multicultural affairs. There is also great work recognised in areas like reproductive rights and human rights.

None of the above is shared to suggest that those receiving awards for services to areas like business and law shouldn’t be recognised. Far from it.

Rather, sharing these figures highlights the opportunity for more diversity — among both the individuals nominated and ultimately recognised, as well as in recognising and celebrating the different types of work people do.

There is clearly a great opportunity to celebrate better and acknowledge the work of those in care-related fields: disability care, childcare, aged care, as well as primary and secondary school teaching.

Better recognising individuals for their work in care will not only grant them the recognition they deserve, but it will also go a long way in building up how we generally value anyone who works in these fields.

Plus, getting care work better recognised will have the inevitable affect also of seeing the overall proportion of women recognised going up too, given women still make up the overwhelming majority of those working in these fields.

Governor General David Hurley says there is a priority in ensuring the Order reflects the diversity of our community.

He said that “work continues to increase nominations for outstanding individuals from parts of our community that have been historically underrepresented, including women, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

An approach to doing the above could and should include looking areas of ‘service’ that are underrepresented in these awards.

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But understanding the date and the various stances on it can be confusing, especially if you’ve grown up thinking of it as our ‘national day’ and an opportunity to hit the beach or bbq.

While some politicians claim any change to the date is divisive, the truth is that treating the day as a harmless celebration undermines the very real experiences of Australia’s First Nations people. Because 26th of January doesn’t just mark the arrival of the First Fleet, it also marks the beginning of our darkest centuries, as Aboriginal people were murdered, mistreated and displaced.

The ongoing impact and generational trauma of this is still being felt.

What’s in a name?

So if not Australia Day, then what should you call it?

There is still plenty of debate and discussion around this. Some call it Invasion Day, others call it Survival Day, Aboriginal Sovereignty Day or a Day of Mourning. And some say that Australia Day should be celebrated on a different date, out of respect for First Nations people.

Rather than being caught up in calling it the ‘right’ thing, stay open to the discussion around the debate, and be proactive in educating yourself.

While some staunch flag-wavers claim Australia Day has been cemented as a day of celebration, in reality it only started being celebrated widely in 1994, although has been occurring in some way since 1915.

Disagreement with the date isn’t new – Aboriginal people first began protesting Australia Day celebrations in 1938, and every year this protest has become more widely recognised.

Education rather than celebration

Recognising 26th of January as a date we shouldn’t celebrate doesn’t mean ignoring the date altogether. This is an opportunity to be open to new perspectives, and to learn more about our history.

There are plenty of resources out there once you start to look – for example we recommend Australia Day by Stan Grant, in which he talks about reconciliation and the indigenous struggle for belonging and identity in Australia, and about what it means to be Australian. Essential reading for anyone willing to learn more about the Aboriginal experience in Australia.

You can also use the day to engage with the local community by attending Invasion Day or Survival Day observations, or to share First Nations content on your social media channels in solidarity with Aboriginal people.

If you’re a parent, talk to your children about why people are choosing not to celebrate the date, and look to age appropriate storytelling through picture books like Day Break by Amy McQuire and Matt Chun, and The Sacred Hill by Gordon Hookey.

A healthy debate

If you’re confronted by someone who feels strongly that we should celebrate Australia Day on 26th of January, being informed will help you have a healthy discussion with them about why it’s important to respect the true meaning of the date.

Some might argue that ‘we aren’t responsible for the actions of our ancestors’, but this isn’t about blaming people for past wrongs, it’s about understanding how past acts of injustice continue to oppress and disadvantage Aboriginal people today.

Others might say it’s not a ‘big deal’. But privilege is when you don’t consider something to be a problem because it doesn’t affect you personally. Just because it’s not a big deal for you, doesn’t mean it doesn’t cause pain to someone else. And choosing a different national day would mean we can all unify and celebrate together, rather than excluding the traditional owners of our nation.

A united future

Until we can create a national day which is truly for all Australians, and also recognise the loss of freedom that 26th of January brought to First Nations people, we’ll struggle to truly heal as a nation.

Our work with early childhood educators is encouraging early childhood settings to use the date debate to help kids understand Australian concepts such as ‘fairness’, and to learn to empathise with the experiences of others.

My hope is that the more we learn as a nation, the more inclusive we can be in how we celebrate being Australian, without creating division or adding to the pain and trauma already experienced by our mob.

Will you be part of this future?

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But our history stinks of division – the hatred towards migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, the exclusion of women and people who identify as LGBTQIA+, and of course, the systematic oppression of our nation’s First Peoples.

In more recent times, Australians have worked to disrupt the divisive discourse that has plagued our country with rallies, protests and speaking out against old traditions, including so-called Australia Day.

But this offends those who hold power in a system built on patriarchy and white supremacy and refuse to accept any other way of life.

Let’s be specific here: it offends Peter Dutton.

On Thursday, after Woolworths and BIG W announced they would no longer stock “Australia Day merchandise” in stores leading up to January 26, Peter Dutton declared Australians, in retaliation, should boycott Woolworths.

“I don’t want to go into Woolworths and be told how I need to vote, how I feel about Australia Day,” he said in an interview on 2GB radio.

“If they don’t want to celebrate Australia Day, well that’s a decision for them, but I think people should boycott Woolworths.”

He described Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci’s decision as following the “woke agenda of Anthony Albanese”.

Later in the interview, Dutton aligned Banducci with former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce for “doubling down” on the decision.

Let me repeat: Dutton likened the sale of Qantas plane tickets for more than 8,000 already cancelled flights, to Woolworths and BIG W no longer selling hats, temporary tattoos and beach towels with the Australian flag on it.

Dutton’s comments took many Australians right back to his divisive strategy during the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, where more than 60 per cent of the country voted No to constitutional recognition of Australia’s First Peoples.

Particularly because, on the same day, none other than the leading No campaigner Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price jumped on-air to back Dutton’s comments.

“I think we should be boycotting those who are prepared to not be proud of this country,” Nampijinpa Price said on 3AW.

Unity, not division

When I speak with people who aren’t from Australia and know very little about the country, I find it really hard to explain why we have a public holiday on January 26.

What was once a day I naively loved, a day I carelessly spent at the beach playing cricket and kicking the footy around as a child, I now know is a day that causes my fellow Australians so much hurt and so much pain.

January 26 marks the first day the British colony touched down on Indigenous land, the first day of what would be decades of erasure, oppression and, ultimately, division.

I don’t celebrate Australia Day because I hope one day we can be united, not because I want to cause division. I, like many Australians, don’t celebrate Australia Day because we are yearning for change.

But those who benefit from our current power structure are hesitant to change, and they’ll give any excuse to avoid progress just so they can be in the room where it happens.

Nothing new from Dutton

Disguising hatred and division with arguments of freedom of thought and unity – unfortunately, it’s nothing new from Dutton.

We saw it in November, when he accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Question Time of being complicit to growing anti-Semitism amid the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

We saw it in the lead up to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum in October, when the No campaign recklessly distributed bouts of misinformation not only about the Yes campaign, but also about Australia’s independent voting body, the Australian Electoral Commission.

Each time Dutton says or does something divisive, he’ll say it’s all in the name of a united Australia.

But our country has never been a united one, and it never will be unless we change something.

Australians want this change. In fact, Woolworths cited a lack of consumer interest in Australia Day merchandise as the reason they are no longer stocking items.

“There has been a gradual decline in demand for Australia Day merchandise from our stores over recent years,” Woolworths said in a statement.

“At the same time there’s been broader discussion about 26 January and what it means to different parts of the community.”

If anything, a staunch capitalist like Peter Dutton should be picking up what consumers are putting down. Take the politics out of it, and Woolworths’ decision is simply responding supply and demand. 

But there is politics in everything, and as Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said on Thursday, this is a “culture war” declared on the left by Peter Dutton.

When asked to respond on Dutton’s comments, Anthony Albanese told Melbourne radio station Fox that Australia Day should be a time to “reflect on what it means to be Australian”.

It’s time Peter Dutton listens to Albanese’s advice, and gives up the charade that he is working in the name of unity.

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Gardner said it “does not sit well” with her to play an international match on January 26 because it is a “day of hurt and a day of mourning” for her people.

Gardner said she will still take the field in Tasmania, but will be thinking of her ancestors and people’s lives who “changed from this day”. The Australian team is set to play Pakistan in a three-match T20 International series, starting on Tuesday. The second match of the series will take place on January 26.

“As a proud Muruwari woman and reflecting on what Jan 26 means to me and my people it is a day of hurt and a day of mourning,” Gardner wrote on social media.

“My culture is something I hold close to my heart and something I’m always so proud to speak about whenever asked. I also am fortunate enough to play cricket for a living which is something I dreamt of as a kid.

“Unfortunately this year the Australian women’s cricket team has been scheduled to play a game on the 26th of Jan which certainly doesn’t sit well with me as an individual but also all the people I’m representing.

Gardner said she wants to use her national platform to educate others about what the public holiday means for Indigenous people.

“As a national team we have a platform to raise awareness about certain issues and I’m using this platform to hopefully help educate others on a journey to learn about the longest living culture in the world.

“For those who don’t have a good understanding of what that day means it was the beginning of genocide, massacres and dispossession.

“When I take the field for this game I will certainly be reflecting and thinking about all of my ancestors and people’s lives who changed from this day.”

In a statement, Cricket Australia said it acknowledges “26 January is a day that has multiple meanings and evokes mixed feelings in communities across our richly diverse nation.”

“We respectfully acknowledge it is a challenging day for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and for some people the day is regarded as a day of mourning.

“Cricket Australia understands and acknowledges Ash’s position and appreciates her leadership and the contributions of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to the game of cricket.

“We will use the T20 International scheduled for 26 January as an opportunity to continue our ongoing education journey with First Nations people.”

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We are on the eve of the nation’s annual ritual of celebrating the arrivals, while not formally recognising the ancient peoples who were dispossessed.

Each year the tensions spill over, rendering Australia Day/Invasion Day/Survival Day a protest as much as a celebration.

But there is a quiet process underway, aimed at achieving substantive recognition of the First Nations that has so far eluded Australia.

A new report on an Indigenous Voice

This process of constitutional recognition is now in its second decade — yes, it has been ten years since the process began. In early January, to kick off the second decade, Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt released the Indigenous Voice Co-design Process Interim Report.

It runs to almost 300 pages and offers First Nations peoples about three months to provide a response.

The genesis for the Voice lies in the historic 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart and First Nations’ preference for a constitutionally enshrined Voice.

The report is a solid first run at designing a Voice. It brings Australia a step closer to realising the Uluru Statement. But it falls short of the Voice to parliament sought by those consulted in the lead up to the Uluru Statement and the statement itself.

A Voice for the voiceless

Previously, I have set out the lengthy and complex process that has led us to this point.

I have also explained why First Nations people chose a constitutionally protected Voice as both symbolic and substantive recognition — and why a legislated voice is not able to deliver the transformative change communities so desperately need.

The push for a Voice came from the voiceless — those less likely to be afforded a seat at the table in Indigenous affairs — because the regional dialogues privileged their participation.

It was their view that those who filled the leadership vacuum left by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (abolished in 2005) were unrepresentative. This includes ever-present and overbearing Commonwealth bureaucracy on Indigenous affairs and other organisations who purport to represent community but are not accountable back to community.

In 2018, the joint parliamentary committee on the Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Peoples — chaired by Labor’s Pat Dodson and Liberal MP Julian Leeser — found the Voice was the only viable constitutional option. But it also found the concept required more meat on the bones before Australians could vote at a referendum. It said this should be done through “co-design” with First Nations peoples.

The 2019 budget saw $7.3 million for a co-design process for the Voice and $160 million for a future referendum once a model is determined. The Coalition’s 2019 election policy also reflected the two-step approach:

A referendum will be held once a model has been settled, consistent with the recommendations of the [Dodson/Leeser] Committee.

The interim Voice report is the settling of that model.

A Voice to government only?

Wyatt has been clear in the past he is only designing a “Voice to government”, which aligns with his worldview as a career public servant.

However, the Voice interim report expressly sets out two components for comment: a Voice to government and a Voice to parliament.

The Voice to government component is one for First Nations communities to contemplate.

Only First Nations people on the ground can tell the inquiry whether the various local and regional mechanisms function in the way the report suggests they do. Only they can tell the government whether they feel their voices are represented effectively by the structures and entities that exist. This is why their input is so crucial to this report.

It is important to note that at the regional dialogues that led to the Uluru Statement, there was not a single existing entity that communities identified as representing their voices. National peak bodies and constituent organisations, were expressly singled out in regional dialogues as not representing grassroots voices.

They were also criticised for being unaccountable and not reporting back to communities about what they say and do in Canberra.

Even so, the interim report has some alignment with the Uluru dialogue’s deliberative method , this includes the proposed transitional arrangements for local and regional entities, allowing communities to conceive of and design new entities.

However, it is difficult to gauge whether this can give voice to the voiceless.

Voice to parliament falls short

The Voice to parliament component of the interim report opens the door to submissions on a constitutional Voice. There is no other way to assess the efficacy of the legislated approach, which unsurprisingly falls short of the voice sought by delegates at the regional dialogues, the national constitutional convention and in the Uluru Statement.

This is because the Uluru Statement sought a mandated place at the table with the force of law. The interim report falls short of this by studiously avoiding power.

While the proposal suggests there is an “obligation to consult” on race power matters and “expectation to consult” on broader matters, there is no power that animates an actual obligation.

After all, it is based on legislation that can be overridden by subsequent legislation, which is par for the course in Indigenous affairs. Media reports talk of the “obligation to consult” on race power as if it is hard law, but this Voice is mediated by the government of the day and therefore the antithesis of what people sought.

It carefully crafts a process that still renders the voice supine to government. This is both in terms of reporting to a parliamentary committee and the transparency mechanisms, where inevitably, the government becomes the Indigenous Voice to parliament.

The most prominent misalignment with the dialogues was they wanted a voice protected by the Constitution via a referendum, so it could survive successive governments and avoid being subject to the whim of the government of the day.

This would give our communities the certainty and security they need to make long-term plans for the future. First Nations peoples understand our affairs are a political football. And that our working and community lives are subject to a three-year cycle of one government to the next. It is a driver of disadvantage.

This is why so many Indigenous organisations are expressing disappointment at this proposal. The “anything is better than nothing” approach does not apply when the change is akin to the status quo; it just looks more officious with more squiggly flow charts.

A path to friendship

This is now an opportunity for Australians and First Nations peoples to make their views clearly heard. It is only an interim report, and it requires the feedback of many.

All Australians want to find a way through the annual debates about Captain Cook, the First Fleet and national identity, to a more inclusive and nuanced narrative of who we are.

Survey research shows a clear majority of Australians want to recognise a First Nations Voice in the Constitution.

As we approach yet another national day replete with swirling toxicity, the path to friendship offered by the Uluru Statement — an expression of peace — provides a roadmap for Australia.

This is not about changing the date, but changing the nation.

Megan Davis, Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous UNSW and Professor of Law, UNSW

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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The comments came following advice from CA’s First Nation’s Advisory Committee to change the languge for its January 26 Big Bash League fixtures. 

“I think a bit more focus on cricket and a bit less focus on politics would be my message to Cricket Australia,” Morrison said on radio on Thursday in response to the move.

Later on, speaking with reporters, he went further.

“When those 12 ships turn up in Sydney all those years ago, it wasn’t a particularly flash day for the people on those vessels either.

“You can’t just airbrush things that have happened in the past. I think one of the great things about Australia… is we are pretty upfront and honest about our past.”

So “up front” is Australia that the Prime Minister tells Cricket Australia to stay out of it.

And it’s curious that Morrison felt compelled to get involved and take a position on Cricket Australia, given he’s been mostly silent on some pretty significant matters in recent weeks.

Just this week for example, he said it was not for him to “provide lectures to anybody” in response to the situation in the United States.

Morrison didn’t have many initial words for the man — former US president Donald Trump — behind the violent insurrection that saw Capitol Hill stormed on January 6. While he denounced the violence, he didn’t follow the lead of other world leaders in directly singling out Trump’s contribution. His strongest condemnation finally came earlier this week, when he described Trump’s comments that led to the violence as “incredibly disappointing”.

“I’ve echoed the comments of other leaders about those things. I think it was very disappointing that things were allowed to get to that stage,” he said in his first comments to reporters since taking a holiday.

“The things that were said, that it encouraged others to come to the Capitol and engage in that way, were incredibly disappointing, very disappointing, and the outcomes were terrible.”

It was one step up from his deputy Michael McCormack, who used the insurrection to share some “All lives Matter” comments during his media spree while in the acting role last week, and described Trump’s infammatory language and refusal to concede defeat as “unfortunate”

Meanwhile, Morrison hasn’t had many words for those within his own party. Like for his science-denying, reality-avoiding Liberal colleague, Craig Kelly, who is on a mission of misinformation to attract a following of die-hard loyalists.

Kelly is doing a good job and now has one of the most engaged Facebook pages of any Australian politician. He is prolific in his updates, clearly taking some Trumpian inspiration and he does so without having to worry about being called out by the Prime Minister.

Rather, Morrison’s reserved some of his strongest words of recent weeks for a move by CA that aims to show respect for all supporters of cricket.

As Linda Burney, Labor’s Indigenous Australians spokeswoman told Nine papers, he “should know better”.

“How can we expect to see real progress on issues such as Reconciliation and Closing the Gap when he makes such ignorant and unhelpful comments like this? Suffering is not a competition.”

Senator Lidia Thorpe said the PM: “has an opportunity to unite the country, not to divide it.”

Mel Jones, the CA director who chairs the Indigenous advisory panel that made the recommendation said they had expected some backlash and debate.

“There was no politics in regards to changing the date or anything along those lines. The conversation was purely about, ‘how do we help this day be as safe and respectful for everyone involved in cricket’,” she said.

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My excitement about finally meeting my baby (and partially deflating) was through the roof, but I was also adamant about something: “Please don’t make me have him on Australia Day”, I pleaded with her.

This position might seem extreme, but for me, it’s black and white. On January 26, I am not proud to be an Australian.

I’ve felt like this for many years, but in recent times my position has solidified. Callously celebrating a day that causes deep hurt for many of our countrymen and women is beyond comprehension.

Each year, we are made aware of this pain. Hundreds of our First Nations people have spoken out about this topic. From political leaders, to entertainers, educationalists, athletes and the list goes on.

It’s not hard to understand why. January 26 marks the anniversary of Captain Arthur Phillip steering a fleet of British ships into NSW’s Port Jackson in 1788. It’s a date which only commemorates the loss of sovereignty for Indigenous people, the loss of lives and the loss of their country.

And, in countless ways, these wrongs are still yet to be corrected. That’s a big part of this whole debate.

January 26 doesn’t just signify an isolated moment in history. It signifies the deep, excruciating and enduring plight of Indigenous Australians.

It signifies hundreds of years of white rule and cultural degradation. It signifies ongoing racism, including a policy (not so long ago) which saw Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children snatched from the arms of their mothers and whisked away to white missions in a bid to wipe out the race.

It signifies being categorised as “animals” and not gaining the right to vote until as late as 1962. It signifies diabolic rates of incarceration and deaths in custody. It signifies a life expectancy 8 years less than non-Indigenous Australians and the injustice and humiliation of still not holding constitutional recognition.

There is so much work to do and bridges to cross before we reach true reconciliation. And January 26 is a perennial reminder that we are still light years away.

‘We’re all in this together’

2020 was a pivotal year, and one in which Australians truly came together and presented a united resolve. We supported each other through lockdown and emerged world-leaders in a fight against COVID. Our Prime Minister, on many occasions, emphasised this point and on New Year’s Day celebrated this by changing the lyrics of our anthem to “we are one and free”.

In a statement, Morrison said he hoped the move would help propel the “spirit of unity” after a challenging year.

It was a good move.

But if we truly subscribe to this mode of thinking– of empathy and compassion and unification– we must draw a line in the sand when it comes to Australia Day.

Because the equation really is as simple as this: There is not a single non-Indigenous person in Australia who would feel deep pain if the date of our national day was to be changed, but there are scores of people who do, from having this maintained.

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It’s that time of year again when I feel incredibly tired and anxious. January 26 is only days away and my social media timelines are full of the angst the date brings to those who know, understand and embrace the true history of this country. At the same time, many others are in full swing ready to barbie and party in the name of ‘Australia Day’ (and it’s attached public holiday).

I’m tired because every year we have to explain why January 26 is problematic as a national day of celebration. Every year we desperately seek leadership in bringing us together as a nation so we can celebrate as a collective.

January 26 is not that date. And if you don’t understand why, perhaps ask yourself a couple of questions: Is it appropriate to celebrate a day that relates to the colonisation a nation? Should we celebrate a date that is linked to the dispossession of land from its original owners and the displacement of those same people? Do you feel comfortable celebrating a date that marks an invasion that saw warfare across the continent? Also known as the Forgotten War as documented by Henry Reynolds.

Take a breath before you say ‘Australia wasn’t invaded, it was colonised!’ Trust me, I’ve heard that argument at length. Australia was not discovered but it was both invaded and colonised.

If you’re not sure about the differences between the terms then have a look at the article Discovery, settlement or invasion? The power of language in Australia’s historical narrative.

To be blunt, January 26 is a date that marks the beginning of invasion – the warfare and the attempted genocide of Aboriginal people. It is a date that reminds many of us – of all cultural backgrounds – of the dark way in which this country was ‘founded’ by the British. It is a date that will never find us unified in a way that means we can celebrate together, and therefore it is date that must be changed.

It’s been a long, drawn out conversation

For many of us the idea of changing the date is not a new one. I think the first time I was asked to offer media comment about changing the date of ‘Australia Day’ was back in 1998 when I was at the then Survival Concert at Waverley Oval. Survival concerts began back in 1988 when Australia ‘celebrated’ the Bicentenary and sang along to the catchy tune ‘Celebration of a Nation’, while others sung ‘Celebration of Invasion’.

Such concerts now held around the nation on January 26 continue to mark our extraordinary resilience and survival on what many still refer to as Invasion Day. In Sydney, the Yabun concert hosted by Gadigal Information Services sees Australians of all cultural backgrounds descend on Victoria Park in what is considered to be the largest ‘alternative’ event on the day.

Kooris, Murris, Noongars, Nungas and mobs around Australia are not that different to our brothers and sisters in North America, just as Native Americans don’t celebrate Christopher Columbus Day – because let’s face he, he didn’t discover America. In fact, in South Dakota, the official state holiday is known as Native Americans Day. The city of Berkeley in California has replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day since 1992 and this has been duplicated in other cities around the state.

While our boycott of January 26 seems outrageous to some, we are no different to other colonised peoples wanting the respect to be considered when the nation is celebrating its national day. The sentiment to #changethedate today remains the same as it did back in 1988 and 1998, although the push  Treaty has also gained momentum through the Uluru Statement of the Heart.

Few might know that the “Draft treaty: Aboriginal sovereign position and legal entitlement: a draft written at the direction and after consultation with the Aboriginal Representative Members of the Sovereign Aboriginal Coalition”  was penned by the late Kevin Gilbert, Wiradjuri poet at and playwright back in 1987.

Although not necessarily reported in the media, there is a lot community discourse around a Treaty, Sovereignty, Recognition and the symbolism that comes with days like January 26. There is a diversity of voice and opinion in our community as there is in the wider community, and many see it as an either /or position. For my part, I believe that symbolism and practicality go hand-in-hand; one allows for constant reminders, memorials and celebrations, another provides the structure and legal processes for much needed change to take place.

While this year there is a push to #AbolishTheDate I do think it’s possible to have one day that we can all celebrate in a way that says that we love our country. At its heart and in so many ways this is a wonderful landscape to live within. In every community, city and town I visit I am enriched learning about and from the original storytellers of Australia. But our country has debilitating elements of xenophobia and a racist underbelly that needs to be addressed, and these are compounded when a national day like January 26 completely dismisses the truth of how Australia was founded, rendering Aboriginal people as invisible, non-existent, not only back then but right now in 2020.

Every year the Australia Day commercial triggers debate / conversation. I have only just watched this year’s ad online as I write this update this while traveling in India. The key message I hope viewers take away is offered uy one of the Elders who speaks of the need to listen.

There are many ways to tell our side of the  story, satire is one. BabaKiuera is a classic example that is still used in education circles to engage students in the conversation that the country needs to have as a whole. What would it be like if there was a Minister for White Affairs and how would white kids removed from their families cope in an alternative reality? It packs a political punch that makes audiences think, feel and GET IT!

Haven’t seen the video yet? Do yourself a favour! Watch it now on YouTube and let me know what you think?

Once you consider Babakiuaria you’ll understand that the problem with the lamb ad is that it fails to mention the actual reality of history, the violent invasion of Australia and the ongoing oppression of Aboriginal people over time. What it does well is showcase the diversity of our nation in a positive way, but simply not mentioning the words ‘Australia Day’ does not solve the issue. And a soft option is not the answer to a hard problem. Without discussing, engaging with and accepting the history that was our past, we cannot grow to be the country we should be now and in the future. And without that conversation and acceptance it doesn’t really matter what the new date is either.

It is this lack of education about the history, and about present diversity, that leads to racism and intolerance, which can in turn lead to violence, like the riots at Cronulla Beach in Sydney’s south on 11 December 2005. Following the assault of local lifeguards by ‘Lebanese- Australian’ men, locals retaliated. According to images in the media at the time, Anglo-Aussies were proudly wearing the Australian flag as a political statement, standing their ground against the Lebanese-Australians who had apparently ganged up. Placards by whitefellas claiming ‘We were here first’ completely ignored the 10s of 1000s of years of Aboriginal occupation before the First Fleet arrived.

Now more than ever we need leadership that brings us together rather than the Scott Morrison or Donald Trump divisive philosophies we are drowning in at the moment. Without it we stand to see more of the Cronulla experience in years to come.

Fremantle Council

In 2017 the #ChangeTheDate conversation made some serious ground with Fremantle Council in Western Australia deciding to hold its “One Day”  – culturally inclusive celebration two days after the rest of the nation.

Kudos to Fremantle Council for leading the way on what is possible. A true leader shows courage in forging a progressive path. And while the Council may be accused of playing ‘black politics’ I don’t believe that any government, at any level, could ever be accused of pandering to the wishes of Blackfellas because we don’t have the numbers to make any real difference to political outcomes or the local economy.

The decision Fremantle Council made back then told me that they were conscious of the fact that many of their constituents desire change, a day that is inclusive and that allows all citizens to participate together, as one community. As long as January 26 remains the national day to celebrate, the community will be divided and that’s not something that the citizens are doing to ourselves, it is something we are forced to do.

I often work on January 26 because in the main it is a day I’d rather not be part of. When I lived in Sydney I’d pop into the Yabun concert in Sydney after work and spend some time connecting with family and friends reminding myself that we have survived as a strong, determined, proud people.

This year I will be joining the march in Brisbane with 1000s of others. You can join me in this march – details here.  There are events happening around the country that you can be part of.  Here’s a list of some.

My hope for the near future is that 2020 presents all Australians with a greater understanding of our shared history, a new date, a new opportunity for us all to celebrate with national pride, and yes, where we can all enjoy a public holiday with meaning and maybe even a roo snag or a prawn on the barbie too.

This was first published by Dr Anita Heiss on her blog and is republished with permission.

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This morning’s conversation was about Australia Day.

Sending lots of love and strength to my Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander brothers and sisters this weekend I hope some allies do the heavy lifting tomorrow and everyday if they truly envision an equal and empathetic country #changethedate #changethesystem

— Miranda Tapsell (@missmirandatap) January 25, 2020

Our youngest daughter’s preschool had last week given the children a pile of temporary tattoos of the Australian flag which the older girls discovered with great excitement this morning. Upon seeing them and groaning, I explained my issue.

“Why don’t you like our flag?” my seven year old asked.

“What I don’t like is Australia Day.”

“Why don’t you like celebrating our country?”

“I do like our country. It’s amazing. But the problem with Australia Day is that it upsets a lot of people. It’s held on a date that hurts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians because it’s the day their land was effectively taken away.”

“But it was always their land. It is their land.”

“That’s true but they have been treated very badly and excluded for a longer time. It hasn’t felt like their land. So this date is very painful.”

“Then why is it on this date? That’s not nice.”

“No it isn’t.”

“Why don’t we change the date then and have it on a day that doesn’t hurt peoples’ feelings?”

Indeed.

Now I imagine, from certain quarters, this might attract the inevitable criticism that this is evidently the result of subversive parental coaching from a leftie, Twitterati, bleeding heart, PC-brigade, feminazi seeking to infect her children’s minds and enlist them in a culture war.

The truth is, I do hope, (more than anything else frankly), to infect my children with a tendency towards compassion but this morning’s exchange wasn’t coached or prompted.

My seven year old reacted in a way that I’d suggest many children of her age would. Her answer is a product of the wonderful capacity of young minds to reduce apparently-complicated issues into very simple terms. Arriving at problems, baggage-less, as some children are lucky enough to do, has the advantage of clarity.

Simplistic as the above dialogue was, it’s instructive. The fact that changing the date is the obvious solution even to a seven year old is telling.

As is the fact that as a nation we are seemingly incapable of recognising that.

To the contrary, instead we proceed not just to annually “celebrate” a divisive and painful date in our history but we use the occasion to tell First Nations people why it’s not a painful date and cannot possibly be moved.

Sadly this symbolises, all too well, Australia’s treatment, to this day, of the traditional custodians of the land.

'Being honest about our past means having this difficult conversation…'

In a moving online exclusive, @teelareid explains why 2020 needs to be a year of reckoning, not reconciliation, with Australia's past.

Read this preview of #MattersofTrust today. https://t.co/PenMc66iY1

— Griffith Review (@GriffithReview) January 23, 2020

The 26^th of January marks the beginning of the widespread oppression, dispossession and near-genocide of First Nations people. For Indigenous Australians it is a day of mourning. It always will be.

And it’s worth remembering that Australia’s history and treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is peculiarly shocking and shameful.

We are certainly not the only country that was invaded and colonised but, along with Fiji and Botswana, we are the only Commonwealth Nation in the world that still hasn’t signed a treaty with its First Nations people. In the year 2020, 250 years since Australia was incorrectly described as “terra nullius”, meaning nobody’s land, the constitution still doesn’t recognise Indigenous Australians.

And these aren’t matters of mere bureaucracy or legal technicalities: they underpin and entrench the exclusion of Indigenous Australians.

Marching in #Brisbane #InvasionDay2020 #InvasionDay pic.twitter.com/KaoGwrv3RQ

— Prof Anita Heiss (@AnitaHeiss) January 26, 2020

Today, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are 10 times more likely to be removed from their families than non-Indigenous kids. An 18-year-old Indigenous male is statistically more likely to go to jail than to university.

Indigenous Australians comprise three per cent of the population but fill more than a quarter of our prisons. At one point in 2018, every single child in detention in the Northern Territory was Aboriginal.

Aboriginal women are particularly over-represented in custody: 33% of all female prisoners in June last year were Indigenous: they are imprisoned at 19 times the rate of non-Indigenous women. Between August 2018 and August 2019, seventeen Indigenous Australian died in custody.

Our Indigenous youth have among the highest suicide rates in the world, and the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people is widening.

Suicide was the leading cause of death in 2018 for Aboriginal people. Tell me again how Australia’s the “ lucky country” when people are taking their lives. This is a deep failure of society. We owe each life suffering every inch support. https://t.co/2yy4viP5yo

— Nessa Turnbull-Roberts (@TurnbullVanessa) January 22, 2020

Indigenous Australians have referred to the inequity as the ‘torment of their powerlessness’. It is this country’s greatest shame.

It makes the “celebration” of Australia Day on 26^th of January insulting and untenable.

It is compounded, exponentially, by the fact the vehement historical attachment to the date is farcical. Far from being an entrenched occasion it’s only been a national public holiday since 1994.

The 26^th of January 1788 was the date Captain Arthur Phillip arrived at Sydney Cove with the First Fleet and raised the Union Jack flag, claiming British sovereignty. The head of the Australian National University’s School of History, Frank Bongiorno, told SBS News that the current iteration of Australia Day is very new.

“[January 26] was very much a Sydney event, it was very much about NSW,” he said.  “As late as the 1960s, there was absolutely nothing in Canberra [on January 26], for instance … It wasn’t marked in any way there.”

Other states celebrated on different dates and it wasn’t until 1994 when it became the national public holiday.

NAIDOC Week was born out of early protests to ‘Australia Day’.

The Sunday before Jan 26 was known as Aborigines Day. In 1955 it was shifted to first Sunday in July & became a protest day & a celebration of Aboriginal culture. #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe #SurvivalDay #InvasionDay pic.twitter.com/fPayhTgwpa

— NAIDOC (@naidocweek) January 25, 2020

The 26th of January is a lightning rod for the shameful and systemic oppression, racism and exclusion that First Nations people in Australia still face.

Changing the date is the easiest starting point in a desperately necessary and overdue process.

Solidarity & love to all First Nations brothers and sisters today, your elders & ancestors.

Let’s keep surviving and telling the truth about the invasion and genocide.

Importantly, let’s do the work toward structural reform so there’s a platform beyond protest. #InvasionDay pic.twitter.com/ADfw8I5hce

— Thomas Mayor (@tommayor11) January 25, 2020

In May 2017, 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders gathered to present the Uluru Statement to the Australian public. It was an invitation to all Australians to walk together for a better future.

The hand-painted statement, that was greeted with a standing ovation, identified “Voice”, “Makarrata” and “Truth” as the three principles Aboriginal and Torres Strait consider necessary to repair and move forward together, as a united population.

“Voice” means a constitutionally enshrined First Nations Voice to parliament – potentially an elected representative body of Indigenous Australians who’d advise parliament on policies and laws affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. “Makarrata” is about bridge-building and treaties, while “Truth” requires a national process of truth-telling.

Reconciliation, treaties and constitutional recognition have been debated at length for decades in Australia but the Uluru Statement is unique.

It was the culmination of an unprecedented consultation in which 1200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives took part in a dozen dialogues across the country.

As the #UluruStatement movement continues to build, here's an invitation to the youth of Australia from the Uluru Statement Youth Summit to walk together for a better future. #auslaw #auscon pic.twitter.com/wBJkFL3qNv

— ulurustatement (@ulurustatement) January 17, 2020

It is a generous and compelling invitation.

Politically it hasn’t been accepted, not in the manner it deserves, but it was issued deliberately to the Australian public. Because it is the support and insistence of all Australians that can create the momentum necessary to begin a meaningful process of repair and reconciliation.

So, if like my 7 year old, you aren’t comfortable with the idea of celebrating Invasion Day, you would like to help #ChangeThe Date and walk together for a better future for all Australians get behind the Uluru Statement. Register your support for it here and spread the word.

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A former newsreader for ABC’s Triple J, and a proud Indigenous woman, Boney bravely raised the debate around Australia Day this morning saying she couldn’t reconcile celebrating on January 26th when the day marks a traumatic experience for many of Australia’s first people.

The post ‘I don’t want to celebrate it’: Brooke Boney’s brave opposition to Australia Day appeared first on Women's Agenda.