Don’t protest the day, go and fix the problems

Jumping up and down about the date consumes time and energy and changes nothing, only distracting from the more serious problems facing Indigenous Australians today, writes Anthony Dillon.

With an election looming, this Australia Day seems to be more politicised than ever, amplifying the controversy that we’ve become accustomed to in previous years.

Putting the politics aside, assuming that’s possible, I want to unpack the controversy and demonstrate that celebrating Australia Day on January 26 is in no way disrespectful to Aboriginal people and that changing the date is not helpful for them.

Controversy surrounding Australia Day centres around claims that celebrations on January 26 are a source of emotional discomfort for Aboriginal Australians due to historical events.

For example, co-chair of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, Ngarra Murray, was reported in the National Indigenous Times recently, as saying that “January 26 represents the beginning of dedicated attempts to wipe our people, our cultures, and our languages off the face of the planet”.

Other Indigenous leaders have stated similar.

For example, in 2023, Professor Bronwyn Carlson of Macquarie University, wrote that “Australia knows this is a Day of Mourning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people because it is the day the attempted genocide of Indigenous peoples began.”

Aboriginal protesters participate in Australia Day protests.

On the Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation web page, it states that Australia Day is a day that ­“offends and harms many First ­Nations people.”

There is no doubt, the arrival of the British (or Invasion if you prefer) at Port Jackson on January 26, 1788 led to an unprecedented change to the ­Indigenous inhabitants all over Australia, where culture and lives would be lost.

However, to my knowledge, there was no violence or take overs on 26 January; this happened in the months and decades that followed.

The subsequent losses have been acknowledged over and over.

However, many Indigenous Australians and their supporters still see 26 January as a day for mourning. They oppose celebrating on this day, believing such opposition is a sign of respect for their past ancestors who were invaded and killed by the British.

For those who think this way, you should ask yourselves this question: “Would your deceased ancestors want you mourning for them, or for the thousands of Indigenous Australians who live in unsafe and unclean living conditions, don’t know where their next meal is coming from, and will die an early yet preventable death?”

Readers of this paper are very familiar with the plight of these Aboriginal Australians, most of whom live in remote or rural areas.

Lidia Thorpe protesting outside the British Consulate General office building in 2022 . Picture:Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

I’m guessing the Indigenous protesters this Australia Day are far removed from their disadvantaged kin who suffer.

For those who claim to be somehow suffering on the grounds that Australia Day celebrates the theft of a continent and the genocide of peoples, let me suggest that any suffering you claim comes from a date such as January 26, is essentially fake.

If we want to help those Indigenous Australians who are truly suffering, then protesting against Australia Day is not the way to do it.

Thirteen years ago I wrote an article for the ABC, where I stated: “For those wanting to make changes relating to Australia Day, I encourage you to visit an Aboriginal community where the people are poor, sick and unemployed, and ask yourself: ‘How will changing the name of Australia Day or changing the date for its celebration help the people in this community’?” My views are pretty much the same today.

Jumping up and down about the date consumes time and energy and changes nothing, only distracting from the more serious problems facing Indigenous Australians today.

I’d gladly change the date if the protesters then swapped their “No pride in genocide” posters for “Stop the community violence” but I can’t see that happening. So, as someone who is equally grateful for their Aboriginal and English ancestry, I do not want the date of Australia Day changed.

However, it is conceivable, in fact highly likely, that the date will change in the near future.

If that happens, I won’t oppose it. I have better things to do. But for now, this Australia Day, while I’ll reflect on this nation’s history, the good and the bad, I’ll be celebrating how great a country we are today.

Anthony Dillon is an honorary fellow at Australian Catholic
University