Jeff Kennett: A new date for Australia Day will help us all build trust
The tragedy of four young indigenous 15 years and younger girls taking their lives touched us all. If all Australians are to celebrate our great nation, we need a day that resonates with everyone. Find that and we’ll build trust, writes Jeff Kennett.
Opinion
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The tragedy of four young indigenous 15 years and younger girls taking their lives touched us all.
It was in part the failure of the non-indigenous community to both give our First Peoples the recognition they deserve and to address the serious social issues in so many of their communities.
Last week I said that in order to build trust and respect inside all communities within Australia — in particular between our First Peoples and the rest of us — there needs to be some meaningful give and take by all.
THEOPHANOUS: TREATY BETTER THAN DATE CHANGE
WHY CHANGING THE DATE WILL MAKE NO DIFFERENCE
WE CAN’T IGNORE HISTORY, WHITE OR INDIGENOUS
In that spirit I wish to suggest we change the date on which we celebrate Australia Day.
January 26 has been selected because it recognises the landing of the First Fleet in Port Jackson under the command of Commodore Arthur Philip on the January 26, 1788.
From that date the population that existed here for centuries prior, the Aboriginal community, was forcibly removed from its country. The atrocities that followed and were committed against many in the indigenous community, were numerous and fatal. Many others had their changed irrevocably.
We cannot change what occurred in previous decades and the groundbreaking Rudd apology, while welcome, did not change attitudes. It did not lead to a greater priority for the indigenous community.
I am not suggesting we change the date in a bid to win popularity with sections of the community, nor am I embracing a Leftish view; I am doing it to start a process of recognition and lift it in a meaningful way to a positive outcome.
In making this call I have looked at why the celebrations of national days in other countries happen on specific dates.
Americans celebrate Independence Day on July 4 each year to commemorate their independence from Britain on July 4, 1776 and not the arrival of the first Europeans, the Spanish, from 1513.
Germans celebrate Unity Day on October 3 to mark the anniversary of the nation’s unification on October 3, 1990.
The English national day is April 23 in memory of St George, England’s patron saint, although it is not a public holiday.
France’s national day is the anniversary of the storming of the bastille on July 14, 1789.
Japan celebrates National Foundation Day on the February 11, celebrating the mythological foundation of Japan.
China has its national day on October 1, marking the formation of the Central People’s Government on December 2, 1949
Indonesia celebrates its national day on August 17 to celebrate the nation’s foundation.
And so the list goes on.
My point is that January 26 was not the foundation of Australia. It already existed. Nor does the date celebrate our independence. It simply marks the arrival of explorers and invaders from distant lands.
I also recognise that throughout history many people have been the subject of aggression and conquering forces have significantly changed the original community. But Australia’s indigenous communities were not subject to an invading force, rather a new community with a different level of education and access to weaponry that the First Peoples did not have. Indigenous people were then subjected to dispossession and abuse as the settlers expanded their ownership of the land over time.
I can appreciate our indigenous community objecting to abuse and dispossession being celebrated as our national day.
So, as we approach Australia Day, in the spirit in genuinely starting to build trust and give our First Peoples the priority they deserve, I suggest we find another date.
I’d make other point about the way we celebrate Australia Day. We aren’t that serious about it. If we were, we’d celebrate Australia Day on the day it falls and not have a holiday if it fell on the weekend as it does this year.
We celebrate Anzac Day on April 25 each year with no day off if it falls on a weekend. So Anzac Day has real meaning.
Australia Day as celebrated now is, I believe, a joke. We are not serious about it. We don’t have enough pride to celebrate the opportunities that Australia offers us.
So, what might be a suitable alternative date? We could combine it with Anzac Day, but the RSL and the military might believe that would downgrade the recognition of those who fought for us; and as an ex-serviceman, I agree.
January 1 was the date in 1901 on which the Commonwealth of Australia came into being and I believe that is an appropriate date for our national day.
POLL SHOWS MOST WANT DATE TO STAY
THIS IS HOW TO HAVE AN AUSTRALIA DAY DEBATE
January 1 is, of course, New Year’s Day, so why not give it extra meaning by celebrating Australia on the first day of each new year? It makes sense to me, Resolutions are made, hopes are high, dreams are daring.
Sharper brains than mine might come up with a better date, but we should move quickly to find one. While we continue to support a date that had such a terrible impact on our First Peoples, we will only delay the rebuilding of trust across the nation.
Australians are decent and giving people who have shown an instinctive generosity on many social issues.
Same sex marriage — who would have thought that such a positive vote would be delivered by city and country folk?
Through the National Disability Insurance Scheme we give those with disabilities and their carers the support they have been denied for years.
Australia is and should be economically conservative and socially generous.
It is time we extended that generosity to our First Peoples and move Australia Day to a date that reflects who we really are.
Think generously.
— Jeff Kennett is a former premier of Victoria.
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