Australia Day is a lamentable mess. There is no answer | Peter Goers

Peter Goers says he’s an Australia Day Ambassador – not because he supports the day but because he supports the work of the Australia Day Council, which has no say in the choice of the day.

I’m very disappointed by Woolworths.

I shop at Woolworths exclusively but recently it badly stuffed up my initial online order. It was very vexing.

However Woolworths’ stance on refusing to honour Australia Day by selling paraphernalia promoting phoney patriotism (Australian flag thongs and plastic flags from China) shows admirable and inspiring corporate leadership.

Woolworths understands that Australia Day is dividing the nation.

Cue the outrage of opposition leader Peter Dutton and his boosters who promptly demanded we all boycott Woolies and shop at Aldi.

Then Aldi followed Woolies’ and Kmart’s lead to oppose Australia Day. This leaves only Coles – or as a friend of mine calls it “Coleses”.

We remain a secondhand nation with colonial overlords. We still have a foreigner as head of state and his brother Prince Andrew is the eighth in line to be our head of state. We could also have King Harry and Queen Meghan.

We are the only country in the world divided rather than united by our national symbols – our flag (with another country’s flag on it), our anthem (a dreadful dirge with asinine lyrics), our constitution which gives one foreign family ultimate power over us and our national day.

Opposition Peter Dutton thinks we should boycott Woolies over Chinese-made Aussie flags (which have another country’s flag on them). Picture: Richard Dobson

Every time I see our flag I feel sad. It flies against the independence of our nation.

These divisions mean Australians all cannot rejoice, we can’t all be proud of Australia. Why can’t our nation unite us in pride?

Woolworths is 70 years older than Australia Day. It began in Australia in 1924 whereas January 26 was not confected as Australia Day throughout the nation until 1994.

It’s a NSW day and it’s a day of commemoration rather than celebration. It commemorates an invasion and the beginning of the massacre of 60,000 First Nations people and the dispossession of those that survive.

For most of our history since 1788, individual states had individual “Australia Days” until as part of the endless Sydneyfication of our nation, the Federal Government imposed the NSW day on all of us.

Many Australians, probably including those vandalising and flare-bombing a Woolies in Queensland, think that Australia Day celebrates Captain Cook who didn’t discover Australia because it was already there belonging to the world’s oldest continuous civilisation.

Australia Day really commemorates the entire eastern seaboard being claimed for British convicts as the world’s biggest prison.

It’s always been a divisive day.

In 1888, NSW Premier Henry Parkes felt that the day reminded Aboriginal people that they had been robbed. Robbed without treaty or recognition and that has never changed.

It’s not just the corporate leaders Woolworths, Aldi and Kmart recognising the division caused by Australia Day, but 81 councils and counting have wisely cancelled citizenship ceremonies on this divisive day, and major corporations such as Telstra give their employees the option of taking the public holiday on another day.

I’m a longtime Australia Day Ambassador not because I support the day but I support the excellent work of the Australia Day Council, which has no say in the choice of the day and acknowledges the lamentable division it causes.

South Australian Governor Frances Adamson, with husband Rod Bunten and dog Alfie, at Government House. Picture: Tom Huntley

I also support what First Nations people call January 26 – Survival Day – when proud Australians come together with joy and unity to support the struggle and survival of First Nations people.

Proponents of Australia Day are blinded by empty patriotism and continue to resent Aboriginal people.

We need a celebration of multiculturalism and all the great things about our nation, but not at the expense of a fair go for Aboriginal people.

National pride is worthy only if it is fully shared. It’s unifying or its useless. Currently, Australia Day is a lamentable mess.There is no answer.

A new national day could be the day on which we finally achieve full sovereignty as a republic but (and this breaks my heart), that’s a dead dream.

But there is hope.

Our wonderful SA Governor Frances Adamson and her husband Rod Bunten, the imperial representatives, are intensively learning the Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara languages out of respect and a desire to embrace and communicate.

At the moment Australia rhymes with failure to achieve nationhood. We are not one and free. Woke up Australia and I’ll celebrate with you at Woolworths.

Originally published as Australia Day is a lamentable mess. There is no answer | Peter Goers