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On this day, it’s not my place to write about trauma, but I can write about trespass.
Australia is the only nation on the planet that takes the beginning of colonisation as its national day.
Australia is the only nation on the planet that takes the beginning of colonisation as its national day.
That’s just weird. Amongst Commonwealth nations, national days are often dates on which independence was declared, a republic formed, a treaty made, or a post-colonial constitution signed.
We choose to celebrate the whiting of a black continent. It’s about race.
We choose to celebrate the whiting of a black continent. It’s about race.
But wasn’t this kind of colonisation common at the time?
No, it wasn’t. Throughout the 18th century, the American colonial governments negotiated treaties with Native Americans, a practice that was continued by the American republic after independence from Britain.
No, it wasn’t. Throughout the 18th century, the American colonial governments negotiated treaties with Native Americans, a practice that was continued by the American republic after independence from Britain.
In Canada, treaty-making was also the norm. The common, underlying assumption was that Indigenous peoples were landowners and held a form of sovereignty.
Oddly, the British departed from this path in NSW in 1788, claiming the continent was a 'terra nullius', a 'nobody’s land'.
Oddly, the British departed from this path in NSW in 1788, claiming the continent was a 'terra nullius', a 'nobody’s land'.
People recognised the problem even then. In 1802, the great British political philosopher Jeremy Bentham wrote a pamphlet arguing that with no negotiation with the Aboriginal peoples and no treaty made, the arrangements in NSW were illegal. He called them 'an incurable flaw'.
It took the Australian courts until the 1992 Mabo decision to provide some remediation, but not reparation, for one of the greatest land grabs in modern history. The flaw remains uncured.
But isn’t tradition hard to break?
But isn’t tradition hard to break?
The first official 'Australia Day' wasn’t even on Jan 26. It was 30 July 1915, held to raise funds for the WWI effort. In fact before 1935 Australia Day was celebrated by states and territories on different days under different guises – variously Jan 26, June 1, Dec 1 and Dec 28.
In 1935, January 26 became the national Australia Day – well, it was actually it was the nearest Monday to January 26, making the long weekend.
It wasn’t until 1994 that Australia Day was declared a national public holiday on exactly January 26. Traditions can be short.
It wasn’t until 1994 that Australia Day was declared a national public holiday on exactly January 26. Traditions can be short.
Yet the First Fleet didn't even arrive on January 26. They arrived in Botany Bay somewhere between the January 18 and January 20. January 26 was when they arrived in Sydney Cove.
Have there always been dissenting voices?
Have there always been dissenting voices?
Of course. When Henry Parkes, Premier of NSW, was planning the 100th anniversary celebrations in 1888, he was asked if anything was being planned for Aboriginal people. Parkes said, 'And remind them that we have robbed them?'
On the 150th anniversary in 1938, a significant Aboriginal protest rallied against Australia Day and called it the 'Day of Mourning'. And on the 200th anniversary in 1988, more than 40,000 people staged the largest march in Sydney since the 1970s anti-Vietnam War demonstrations.
Are we sorting it out? It’s a mess. It wasn't until 2013 that the Aboriginal flag and the Australian flag were raised together on Sydney Harbour Bridge for Jan 26, even though the Aboriginal flag was formally recognised in 1995 as an official Flag of Australia. Things move slowly
But when 26 January rolls round each year, it’s increasingly challenged as our national day. It's done in a million different ways, but more and more the 'institutions' are fleeing.
Many local councils have moved their celebrations to another day, saying ‘we’re out’. In 2019, the Triple J Hottest 100 said 'we’re out'. This year Cricket Australia said 'we’re out'. So many more, and more each year.
Any national day that divides more than it unites is a clear failure. There’s just no getting away from that. It’s just not doing its job.
The flaw might not be curable, but the failure of our national day is. Soon, but not soon enough, the suspect sinews will snap, and we will find a different day for celebration and leave January 26 alone, for commemoration, for mourning.
Go gently today.
Go gently today.
