Australia Day should be moved to another date so we can all celebrate

CELEBRATING Australia Day on January 26 divides people so it’s time to find a date we can all celebrate, writes Susie O’Brien.

MOMENTUM is building for Australia Day to be moved to another date. Around the country there are numerous moves recognising that January 26 is seen as Invasion Day by many indigenous Australians — a day of mourning rather than celebration.

This makes it inappropriate as our national day because it’s dividing rather than uniting us.

Unlike some who brand it little more than political correctness, I support changing the date.

The latest organisation to explore the issue is ABC youth radio station Triple J, which is considering moving the date of its Australia Day Hottest 100 countdown. The countdown has been part of Australia Day for years. Interestingly, January 26 only became a national holiday in 1994 — which makes it younger than the Hottest 100.

It’s time for us to acknowledge that the day is now seen as too loaded to be what we need it to be: a simple and joyous celebration of our great nation.

The broadcaster has invited its fans to have their say on whether the date of the countdown should be moved. I think Triple J should stop consulting and polling and just make a progressive statement in line with the views of its youth audience. How long does the station need to make the right and obvious decision?

It’s pertinent that one of the songs on the Hottest 100 is a track called January 26 by hip-hop duo A.B. It’s a song about the racism that clouds Australia Day celebrations for many indigenous people. As songwriter Dan Sultan sees it, it’s a matter of history, not opinion that January 26 is tainted. He says the massacre of Aboriginal people and the dispossession of their land should not be challenged by those who think it’s just another protest.

Although I don’t agree with the tone of his rant, which is laden with four-letter words, I do agree with the sentiments. In his view those who are fighting the move are “not patriots, they’re nationalists and they’re racist”.

“The biggest thing about white entitlement is that they think it’s a myth. Like, it’s not up to them to decide what I’m offended by — it’s up to me whether I’m offended,” he said in a recent interview.

Sultan is right. Many of those marching in opposition are right-wing extremists who are motivated by racist rather than nationalistic sentiments.

They are spurred by outdated notions of what Australia looks like as a country. In one case, the United Patriots Front strongly objected to a billboard with two girls in hijabs advertising an Australia Day event.

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The billboard of two girls in hijabs celebrating Australia Day.

The billboard was displayed in an area with a high immigrant and Muslim population and was designed to appeal to the locals.

And yet the United Patriots Front saw it as a threat to the white Aussie male.

“They’re making every effort to redefine your nation and gradually erase you from history,” the UPF said on social media.

The Reclaim Australia group took a similar stance in opposition to the billboard, tweeting: “What the? Where’s the BBQ, the bikini babe, the hot Aussie male, and the beer? What is going on?”

Such groups often march in a threatening manner and often cover their faces, obscuring their identity. They view any changes to established traditions as threats rather than progress.

Their idea of Australian identity relies on an outdated stereotype of the white red-blooded Aussie who loves beer, footy and pies.

It doesn’t reflect the reality of our proud, diverse multicultural nation and our indigenous history.

Let me be clear: I am not saying every person who doesn’t want the date changed is racist. I know many Australians don’t give the issue much thought and enjoy a day off spent with friends or family. They don’t deserve to be labelled racist in the same way as the right-wing fanatics.

The Australian identity no longer relies on a stereotype of beer, footy and pies.

THE moves at Triple J mirror debates at councils around the nation, including Melbourne, Fremantle, Lismore, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane.

A resolution to move the date of Australia Day was even debated at Queensland Labor’s state conference. The issue was also discussed at the Australian Local Government Association’s National General Assembly in June, with a recent resolution asking councils to “consider actions they might take to lobby the federal government on changing the date”. I agree. If Australia Day is to be a day for all Australians, then let’s choose a day we can all unite behind.

It’s a pity the federal government is ruling councils which refuse to hold citizenship ceremonies on January 26 will be prohibited from holding them at all. I don’t believe they have the power to do that.

Let’s follow the lead of New Zealand and create a new day that reflects not just British history, but indigenous history as well. It’s a case of doing the right thing after years of abuse, dispossession, neglect and discrimination.

Susie O’Brien is a Herald Sun columnist

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Originally published as Australia Day should be moved to another date so we can all celebrate