‘Australia Day date change won’t help Aboriginal people’

An Aboriginal commentator doesn’t believe Australia Day needs to be changed but if it is, there’s one obvious option.

OPINION

Cricketer Pat Cummins was reported to have said, “I absolutely love Australia,” and “it is the best country in the world by a mile.” I, and many thousands of Aussies, tend to agree. And because Australia will continue to be a great nation on Friday, then that’s what we’ll be celebrating this Australia Day.

But Cummins and others have raised the valid point, that perhaps there is a better date for celebrating Australia Day. I guess it depends on how you define ‘better.’ Typically, the arguments for a date change are premised on the questionable claim that Aboriginal Australians would be better off.

Australian Test cricket captain Pat Cummins has said we should change the date of Australia Day. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Much like the proposed Voice to Parliament, we’re not told how a date change is actually better for Aboriginal people. We’re just told it is better, or told that the date is hurtful for Aboriginal people and so needs to be changed, and that a change will make things better.

Given the claim that celebrating Australia Day on January 26 somehow upsets or hurts Aboriginal Australians, I consider an alternative date to be better, only if it helps Aboriginal people in any practical way.

I seriously question, and have done so for more than a decade, if a change of date will help Aboriginal people in any practical way. I believe changing the date would be like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. It looks good, but we know the outcome.

In response to my argument against changing the date, some have said, “But surely it won’t hurt to change the date. We have nothing to lose by changing it. There are other dates.” I agree that there are other dates to choose from. However, I do question the claim that there is nothing to lose by changing the date for Australia Day celebrations.

Let me explain.

Currently, the reasoning for changing the date is that celebrating Australia Day on January 26 is offensive or hurtful to Aboriginal people. For example, in an article on The Conversation last year, its author stated: “For others, it’s a painful reminder of the beginning of British colonisation and the dispossession of First Nations.” In an article on SBS, its authors wrote: “Australia Day date of January 26 remains painful, problematic for many First Nations people.”

I do not believe Aboriginal people’s emotional wellbeing is under the control of a date. To assume so, is extremely disempowering to Aboriginal people. It sends the ridiculous message to Aboriginal people that if the date remains unchanged, you are in ‘pain’ on that day. If the date is changed, then you are relieved of pain.

Dr Anthony Dillon is an academic with Australian Catholic University, and a commentator on Aboriginal affairs. Picture: Supplied

So, if you want to change the date, don’t do it on the basis that “the current date causes pain to Aboriginal people.” To change the date on this basis sends a poisonous message to Aboriginal people that their emotional pain and suffering is under the control of a date.

How’s this for a compromise? I and others have suggested that Australia Day be celebrated on either the Monday or Friday that falls closest to 26 January each year. Mate, we Aussies do love our long weekends!

Now for the purist who believes there is a more suitable date than 26 January to use, please suggest it. There are a few to choose from. However, there is a good chance that no matter what date is chosen, someone will take the opportunity to declare it as being offensive to them.

This Australia Day, I’ll be celebrating that we Australians are many, but we are one (and are allowed to disagree with one another). We are family, friends, and neighbours. I will celebrate that: “we’re all part of the story” as the Ballardong traditional owners from the York area, Western Australia, will be doing.

Finally, for the corporates, retailers, big and small businesses, and sporting bodies, keep in mind, that we Aussies (well, 60 per cent of us at least), prefer you to keep out of politics and let us decide what we will do on 26 January or whatever date future Australia Days may be celebrated on.

Anthony Dillon identifies as a part-Aboriginal Australian, is an academic with Australian Catholic University, and a commentator on Aboriginal affairs.