Australia Day or Invasion Day - Should we change the date?
Australia Day
Yes, I am going to open up this can of worms and look at Australia Day and what it means to all Australian peoples.
Australia Day is celebrated on the 26th January annually. It marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson, New South Wales and the raising of the Flag of Great Britain at Sydney Cove by Governor Arthur Phillip. All Australian states started using the term 'Australia Day' around 1935, and it wasn't until 1994 that all states and territories officially marked Australia Day with an official Public Holiday.
Dating back to the 1930's, some Indigenous Australians have also marked Australia Day as a day of mourning as they see it as the day that European settlers invaded and took their lands from them. There can be no argument that Indigenous Australian culture changed since European people settled Australia. Although the official statement from Britain was for a 'peaceful settlement', indigenous peoples ultimately suffered at the hands of introduced diseases which they had no immunity from and from the introduction of alcohol. There are also many incidences of violence towards the indigenous population and some areas of Australia even saw the collection and removal of people from their land so they could be occupied by the European settlers. Some sections of the indigenous community term Australia Day as 'Invasion Day', in reference to the 'invasion of their lands'.
Over the years there has been an increasing chorus for Australia Day to be moved or re-named as it recognises the day that Europeans came to this country. Some local councils have even gone as far as cancelling official Australia Day celebrations in recognition of the day's significance to indigenous Australians.
Should the date be changed?
The question then arises as to whether we should be celebrating Australia Day on the day that the First Fleet arrived on our shores and Europeans settled the eastern seaboard? We didn't officially become a Federation of states until 1st January 1901 and this date has been suggested as an alternative to the 26th January. Most Australians support the current date of 26th January, however, it is deeply offensive to our indigenous community so should we not at least debate the possible change of date, after all, it is just a date that commemorates something significant for the white population of this country?
There are a lot of reasons why we should change the date and many for why we should just keep it as the 26th January. I believe that as a forward-thinking country, we should be able to have a debate that is backed by reasoned arguments and not fuelled by bigotry views as has occurred in the past.
I think that this debate will need to be addressed eventually as more and more sections of the Australian public start to compose their own opinions on when Australia Day should be.
I would be interested to hear your thoughts and get the community on Steemit debating this polarising topic.
Thanks for reading.
Awesome Steem Witnesses!
Come and join us in the Team Australia Discord Channel
Thanks to @ryivhnn and @bearone for the fantastic footers :)
It's a tricky one Scotty.
The Aboriginal population have every right to see it as a day of mourning such was the horrific treatment they suffered for many, many years. However Australians today should be able to celebrate the founding of their country without feeling guilty for something they had no part in and indeed agree was a dark time in the country's history.
You could make the same arguments in the USA, Canada, New Zealand and no doubt other places the British and other Empires colonised.
I'm sorry I don't have an answer however I do believe that a solution is needed so every single Aussie can come together and celebrate for one day a year the most blessed country on Earth.
You may see it as a can of worms, I don't. It's something that should be addressed so you can all move on in unity.
Thought provoking post..Well said in this reply I think.
Aboriginals have had a tough time of it and for many it still is very tough!
I think part of saying sorry (and accepting it) is moving on and letting go.
We should absolutely Celebrate Australia Day, but I don't care if we change it or not. It's just another day on the calendar to me.
Perhaps we could choose the day when it was named it 'Australia' instead.
And no we should not be reverting back to its former name. Let's move forward and not backward.
https://steemit.com/dtube/@zainu786/enjoying-great-moments-with-besties
https://steemit.com/dtube/@zainu786/enjoying-great-moments-with-besties
Australia has always been my dream country and I love their accent
I think the date should remain. This is because although it was the day of European attack and seizing of the land historically, both dates and days are significant in the history of Australia. I suggest the date be left.
Hi... @scooter77, are you aware that you wrote "upgoat" instead of "upvote"?
Sure am! Upgoat = Upvote! Same thing!
As a Sydney boy, Australia day is just seen as another reason for a great piss up. It also marks the day most Aussies actually think about getting back to work and start doing business again. Thats the main reason for keeping the date. A bit like Christmas day it has lost all meaning and could be called, hot summer beach party day.
I wrote a very similar post last week - Absolutely stays as it is.
Why does it have to be that particular day? Because Australia Day causes so much hurt and angst for the indigenous population in our country, why shouldn’t we be open to listening to their concerns and looking at an alternate day to celebrate us becoming a nation.
I love celebrating Australia Day too and am a descendant of English free settlers and convicts that were brought here against their will, but i still believe that we need to look at being an open and harmonious country of people and hear the concerns of the culture that was decimated by European settlers and brought to the brink of extinction by the ‘white’population. If my ancestors had endured the brutality and depravation of liberties that the indigenous population did, then I too wouldn’t want to celebrate the day that Europeans came to these shores and changed the lives of the indigenous people and their culture forever.
Yes,it wasn’t us who committed these atrocities, but it is our responsibility to recognise and reconciliate and make amends for those Australians that came before us.
After all, it is just a day and I’d be happy to celebrate Australia Day on any other day if it helped repair the broken relationships across cultures in this great country.
The day isn't about celebrating any of the atrocities that occurred, so I'm not sure why its a problem. Its about celebrating what you love about the country.
But because it causes quite a bit of pain to a section of our commuity shouldn’t we at least think about celebrating all the things it is to be Australia on another day?
Where does it stop?