Why you shouldn’t celebrate Australia Day, on January 26, or ever

January 26 is famous for beers, barbecues and fun in the sun - but if you’re planning to celebrate today, you need a reality check.

The New Year brings plenty of new things: people make promises to better themselves, or to try new things, or develop skills. However, just as things change, plenty of things stay the same.

One such unchanging, and stagnant thing, is Australia Day, despite many years of controversy and opposition.

What is “Australia Day”? That may seem like a silly question to most Australians, but the answer isn’t simple.

Google’s answer to the question is that Australia Day celebrates the landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788, and is observed annually on the 26th of January. But what happens if you ask the same question to any random Australian?

Nowadays, you would get mixed responses due to the history of the date. Some people would respond that it’s a day to have drinks, put on the barbecue, and celebrate being Australian. Immediately, though, that raises the question “What does a fleet of ships carrying convicts and settlers have to do with drinks, sausages, and being Australian?”

The answer is simple: many Australians celebrating the day still ground their identity in colonisation.

An Invasion Day rally in Hobart. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Surely though, colonisation is not a bad word? It was through the building of colonies that Australia was able to thrive and become what it is today. That brings us to the point, and the reason a change of perspective is needed.

The opposing perspective comes down to this: Australia Day celebrates nothing more than invasion, massacre, and genocide, and the identities that are grounded in that.

Tilly Langford, a First Nations comedian and political commentator on Instagram and Tiktok, shared her thoughts on the day.

“Invasion Day, to me, symbolises a lot of my personal conflictions with ‘Australia’”.

Tilly is known for creating content on her views of the Australian Government’s response to class inequity, racial injustice, and sexism.

“I want to love this Country. I want to care for it and cherish it just as my ancestors did. But I can’t, because of the way it is now, the blood, and the carnage, and the pure indifference,” she continued.

January 26 is not a day for celebration – that’s why news.com.au is campaigning to change the date of Australia Day, so we can celebrate the best country in the world, without leaving anyone behind.

Tilly Langford, a First Nations comedian and political commentator. Image: Instagram / @tilly.gov.au

First Nations People throughout Australia recognise this day as an annual celebration of invasion, colonisation, and genocide. This is because since the arrival of the First Fleet in Australia, and the subsequent colonisation, First Nations People have suffered grief, pain, death, and the loss of culture and identity.

Why should anyone celebrate that?

This colonisation is not something of the past, either. It didn’t occur hundreds of years ago, as some people seem to believe. Colonisation is something that is happening every day since the moment invasion happened.

Some of the biggest genocidal events of colonisation for our First Nations People were massacres that occurred from the beginning of colonisation until around 1928. The last massacre of First Nations People was even led by a police party.

Outside of massacres, the Stolen Generation was a widespread genocidal event. The removal of children from Indigenous families to be placed in abusive situations to be re-educated, lead to loss of culture and loss of identity.

While this officially ended in the 1970s, Indigenous children are being removed from families at record numbers to this day.

Finally, the effects of genocide are still felt even to this day as First Nations People continue to die in police custody. Even since the royal commission into these deaths, another 500 First Nations people have died in custody.

“The way it is now is so tied up in pain, struggle and trauma; that the thought of being able to love it without those feelings feels so bittersweet and impossible,” said Langford. “I don’t think I ever will celebrate ‘Australia Day’ really, regardless of when it is”.

“I also don’t think I’ll ever be able to truly love this country as my ancestors were able to. But one day, I hope there is enough healing for my children or even their children to. And that healing needs to start now.”

Australia Day celebrates nothing more than invasion and genocide.

This leads us to the protests that make news every Australia Day. First Nations People and allies are turn up in growing each year in a show of much they believe this day needs to be abolished.

Yes, abolished. That may seem new, seeing as a lot of previous discussions were about simply changing the date. However, with a day that has been so embedded in colonisation, can changing it truly make a difference?

Do we change the date, or is it time to start saying “abolish the date”? First Nations People have that answer, and it is time we listened.

For myself — a First Nations Person who has seen hurt, loss and trauma to this very day — Australia Day is a day that cannot exist, on any date, while our First Nations People are still left behind, hurt, colonised, and killed.

Nich is a freelance journalist and content creator, finishing up a degree in journalism and justice.