January 26, Australia Day.
An extremely important day to celebrate what it is to be Australian today.
But not an important date.
In my opinion we shouldn’t celebrate Australia Day on the 26th of January.
We should celebrate it on a different day.
The 26th of January is a date symbolizing the beginning of hardships to many aboriginals of Australia. The day that an inhabited land was declared the property of a foreign king; it’s people, fauna. The aboriginal people were corralled, slaughtered and stolen. Recently a strong message was sent by A.B. Original in there song January 26, this is not a day for all Australian people. It even compares the use of the date to “[Partying] on your Nan’s Grave.”
So January 26 is not the day for it.
It should be a day of unity for all of the cultures in our country, for everyone who calls themselves Australian.
The date that serves as this day of celebration is arbitrary, it’s not important. All that matters is that we come together with our mates and celebrate this great country we live in, all cultures included.
So what does the day need..
- A good old fashioned BBQ
And the Hottest 100 of course, an iconic tradition (Which wasn’t always on Jan. 26).
Well from one list an all important aspect can be seen of the date…. It has to be in summer (or at least close to). Gives October – March to work with. There’s something about having it at the start of the year that seems important, so down to January – March.
I suggest March 8th
Maaate (May 8 would work better but we need some heat)
A day of Mateship, Comradery, and Unity.
Don’t get me wrong I’ll be enjoying the Australia day festivities, no doubt about that. It’s unfair really to think of that in itself as racist, because what I’m celebrating isn’t the invasion. It’s today’s Australia.
But it’s definitely a discussion that needs to be opened.
Why not change the date?