The 26th of January is “Australia Day”; a national holiday.
For many Australians, Australia Day is a day to celebrate all things Australian, being an Australian, and to celebrate the diversity and culture that makes up Australia.
After a number of years here, it seems to me that many Australians aren’t very patriotic, they just enjoy the fact that Australia Day is a public holiday and they have a BBQ. There are fireworks and other events held in many cities to celebrate.
But a day of celebration depends on your point of view…
The 26th of January 1788 was the day that the First Fleet of British colonial ships invaded New South Wales and took possession of the land in the name of the British monarch.
And so, for some Australians, rather than a celebration, Australia Day represents a day of commemoration for the indigenous people whose land was taken away from them. There are protests at some Australia Day parades by people who support the idea that this is a day of invasion and survival.
I watched the Australia Day parades in Melbourne last year (2015). There were community groups from every section of the population with banners proudly showing their afflilation. I remember being particularly impressed by a Muslim group who advocated that they were Australians and therefore supported their country on Australia Day. The parade felt like a celebration.
At least, it felt like a celebration until the main parade had clearly ended and there came a group of protesters behind them, sectioned off by police. The parade announcer hurriedly said “this is the end of the parade, please could everyone make their way down to the park”. All the organisers started to try and pack things up, while the police were still trying to ensure that the protesters remained peaceful.
I started to feel a bit uncomfortable and confused, why would the announcer pretend that this wasn’t happening in front of him?? Was something bad going to happen?? Should I move quickly to the park?? All the announcer had to do was acknowledge that there was a group of protesters, this is why they are protesting and it would have made everyone comfortable with what was happening. Instead, there were many people in the crowd, like me, who did not know what the hell was going on.
The protest was noisy, full of aboriginal music, chanting and banging drums. There was smoke from something being burnt. There were about 100 people who looked like a mixture of Aboriginal and non aboriginal backgrounds parading down the street. I can’t remember the protest slogans or banners being held up, but I now know that the protest was against Australia Day, against the 26th of January being used as a celebration.
The protest was, of course, peaceful, without incident, but it opened my eyes to Australia day, the history behind it and the fact that there are still long lasting issues that have not been resolved.
I have the day off work for Australia Day 2016. I have had an invite to a BBQ and would love to go to the fireworks in the city. As a foreigner, I feel an obligation to respect the duality of Australia day. I still feel confused as to whether I should celebrate or commiserate and feel that I should perhaps balance out the fireworks by visiting a Survival Day event in the city or reading about indigenous history.
I will hopefully be an Australian Citizen by Australia Day 2017. I don’t know how I will or should feel about Australia day then.
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