26 of January is a historic day for Australia and it needs to be reminisced with a Public Holiday. It is the day that the colonisation of NSW started by the British. The colonisation was not peaceful and the indigenous Australian suffered grossly. Their unjust suffering is Australia’s heritage and we need to be strong enough to accept it and vocalise it. No country in the world has a clean past. It has been part of the genesis of a nation to go through transitions that become a dark point in time. We need to understand and accept that. We can do that by proclaiming the 26th January as National Mourning day, for the suffering caused to our Indigenous Australians. The day needs to be filled with events around reconciliation and Indigenous history and culture. The flag of the day should be the Aboriginal flag.
The day for celebrating Australia is the 9th of July, currently the Constitution Day, commemorating the day in 1900 when Queen Victoria gave her assent to the Constitution of Australia. It makes no sense to celebrate Australia Day on an event that occurred only in the state of NSW, on a date 112 years before even Australia existed. Australia is its people, its Democracy and Constitution, not a boat load of convicts arriving at NSW shores. Australia was born by its Constitution and that is the day to celebrate the start of our nation. 50 other countries celebrate their Constitution day, most of them with a public holiday. Whenever Australia becomes ready to shed its racist past and embrace its future, the logical date for celebrating it awaits her. It is the 9th of July.
The day for celebrating Australia is the 9th of July, currently the Constitution Day, commemorating the day in 1900 when Queen Victoria gave her assent to the Constitution of Australia. It makes no sense to celebrate Australia Day on an event that occurred only in the state of NSW, on a date 112 years before even Australia existed. Australia is its people, its Democracy and Constitution, not a boat load of convicts arriving at NSW shores. Australia was born by its Constitution and that is the day to celebrate the start of our nation. 50 other countries celebrate their Constitution day, most of them with a public holiday. Whenever Australia becomes ready to shed its racist past and embrace its future, the logical date for celebrating it awaits her. It is the 9th of July.
