Australia Day? ‘None of us are too keen on continuing to celebrate it’

For more than 200 years, non-Indigenous Australians’ enthusiasm for January 26 has waxed and waned. The first settlers ignored it, freed convicts toasted it. NSW embraced it, other states celebrated on different dates; it didn’t become a national public holiday until 1994. The teens of the ’90s found it cripplingly uncool, while those of the 2000s wore flag bikinis and Southern Cross tattoos.

Now, the push to celebrate on an alternative date is gaining momentum. It is strongest among younger Australians, who are less attached to the traditions of the past and more thoroughly educated about Indigenous history. Many now regard celebrating Australia on January 26 as shameful. The Herald spoke to five Australians under 30 to find out why.

Jordan Mlotkowski, 22, anthropology student, Yuin man

When you were growing up, how did you spend January 26? I grew up with what I would consider a strong connection to my Indigenous culture. Nan would always call January 26 invasion day. She would put the Aboriginal flag up in the window, and we’d stay at home and do nothing. I knew that all my [non-Indigenous] mates were out riding their bikes and going to the beach. I’d shut up and say nothing the next day: “Oh, my day was OK”. Other mob would let everyone know how they felt, we didn’t share that with anyone.

Jordan Mlotkowski.Credit: Wolter Peeters

So how do you feel about it? There’s a certain guilt around the day. Which sounds weird because if anyone, it’s non-Indigenous people who should feel guilty. I’d feel guilty for just existing, almost. It’s such a hot topic now – it would be a bit shameful to run through the street with an Australian flag – but when my mum was my age it was just normal to go out and celebrate. I feel guilty that our mob and allies don’t feel comfortable going to the beach.

So you’ve noticed a significant change in attitudes in the past few years? Does that feel like a breakthrough? It makes me feel good. I can see now that something as simple as wearing an Australian flag or Australian merchandise on January 26, is kind of looked down upon now. Not just by my family, not just by mob, but also by our multicultural community, by our allies. I feel more people are realising what mob go through. People are waking up; this might actually go somewhere. It might get the fellas in power to do something, and change the date.

There are still politicians, though, who are calling on people to boycott supermarkets because they’re not selling Australia Day merch. Advocating for the legal campaign that was the Voice, I learnt a lot about politics. I’ve realised that stuff is always going to be there; I expect it. If anything – and not everyone shares this view – it’s a good thing to have people saying these things because it provides an opportunity for someone like me to rebut them, to call them out, and allow people to see why what they’re saying is so ridiculous. So many people have these views but they say nothing; when people do say it, it starts a dialogue.

Why do you think that there are so many people who still want the celebration on January 26? I’ve heard people make remarks such as “it’s not that big, get over it” to me and others who hold the view that the date should be changed. I think this comes from a lack of empathy towards my people and the historical contexts we’ve had to endure.

Now you’ve left home and live on campus at Macquarie University, what do you do on January 26? It’s become a trend to go out and protest. But I’d feel like I was disrespecting my nan if I went out to protest, even though I believe protest is actually good, and is creating visibility for our people. But that’s just not what we did. I’ll just chill here at home, maybe play some video games, listen to music and maybe call mum.

Juliette Brown, 26, Randwick, management consultant

Did you celebrate Australia Day when you were younger? When I was a child and a teen, I was quite myopic. My family never discussed the significance of January 26. I’d hope to be invited to an Australia Day party, which would, 15-odd years ago, involve a barbecue, a swim and people wearing Australia Day merch. As an early teenager, it was a chance to have a party and enjoy summer, with no reflection on what the day represented. As I got older, I started thinking about it more.

When did you begin to question your own assumptions? I grew up in a relatively sheltered area where Indigenous issues weren’t at the forefront of everyone’s mind. In year 11 and 12 I became more politically engaged, and reflected more on Australia’s legacy of colonisation. I spoke to my friends. I read the media debates and political commentary, and that’s what it took to piece it together with what I’d learnt at school about the arrival of the First Fleet. I came to see the pain the day was causing to Indigenous Australians.

Juliette Brown.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Do you remember exactly when, or what caused the penny to drop for you? As soon as I hear the perspective of someone who has lived experience, something that I haven’t got, I’m always very ready to adopt their view of truth. As soon as I understood the pain that was causing to Indigenous Australians, I pretty much changed my view on the spot. There are so many other days on which we could mark Australia Day, that don’t have those connotations.

Are there many people in your orbit – older people, perhaps – who don’t share your view? People in my age group and networks share my views, 100 per cent. I don’t think I’ve been invited to, or seen anyone invited to an Australia Day party for at least the past 10 years. And I think that’s honouring the fact that it’s a day of mourning. There are fruitful discussions with my peers on the day about reconciliation and our history of colonisation and the relationship between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians. But older relatives, my more right-leaning family members, do still see it as an opportunity to have a low-key barbecue and drink beer and have fun and not really think about the political connotations of the day.

Have you listened to people with the opposing view? I’ve very rarely engaged with people who hold the opposing view and can’t seem to find anyone in my immediate circles today that holds that view to ask. I think they hold the view they do either because they feel like Australia’s moved on from our history of colonisation, or that even if the day was moved it wouldn’t do anything tangible, it would merely be symbolic and that that’s not a good enough reason to move it.

What do you do on January 26? Most people in my immediate circles will either work through the day, take the day as leave and go to a protest or an Indigenous cultural event. That’s what I did last year – I went to an Indigenous cultural event and I read up on The Voice. People treat it as a low-key day of reflection and mourning.

Imak Gaskell, 17, high school student, inner west

Do you think Australia should change when we celebrate our national day? Yes, I think we’re celebrating a day that’s not a happy one for the first people of this country. We’re not really respecting the pain and all the terrible things that have happened to Indigenous Australians by celebrating.

Imak Gaskell.Credit: Wolter Peeters

So how did you come to this view? When I was younger, it was never really important to me, in the way that an eight-year-old doesn’t care if it’s a Liberal or Labor government. But throughout the Aboriginal education that occurs in primary and early high school, that influenced it a lot. It made a few of my peers, and me, question why. My parents are all for changing the day.

Have you had conversations with Indigenous people? I’ve had a couple, with friends of friends. I’ve had a couple at work, as I work in a hair salon and there are lots of long conversations going on between clients and staff. The general consensus from Indigenous people I’ve spoken to is it’s a very sorry time for them.

Do you discuss it at school? We do, not necessarily in a classroom setting but among friends, at recess and lunch. None of us are too keen on continuing to celebrate it. When people do celebrate it, it’s looked down upon by many of their peers. It’s very rare you’ll see on things like social media, people posting about celebrating Australia Day.

Is there anyone in your orbit who holds the opposite view? Have you engaged with their perspective? Nobody my age. Some extended family do support [maintaining the date], and so do my older colleagues. I’ve spoken to them about it. From my experience, these older generations feel an entitlement to the day. They feel the change the date movement has come to take something away from them. They feel that it’s theirs, they have a right to celebrate it, and they don’t want that aspect of their culture as white Australians to be taken away. I think the reason why younger generations hold different views is we haven’t spent 40 years of our lives celebrating it every day on the 26th of January. It’s easier for us to part with the idea.

What will you be doing on January 26? I’ll probably end up going to the beach as I normally would on a hot day.

Cindy Yin, 21, Campsie, just finished uni

What did Australia Day mean to you when you were growing up? We emigrated from China in 2007, when I was four-and-a-half. My very first interaction was in primary school when the teachers told us this is Australia Day and we just celebrated because, well, this is Australia Day. I didn’t think too deeply about it. My family approached it like any other public holiday.

Cindy Yin.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Did you ever go to Australia Day parties or events? I remember going to Bunnings and there was an Australia Day sausage sizzle, so it was, ‘oh, this is how people do things’.”

How did your views evolve as you got older? When I was younger, I didn’t really think deeply about it, maybe because it was taught very two-dimensionally to us. But once I got older and we learnt more about Australia’s history, and I learnt that this day has a lot of significance for Indigenous Australians because it’s considered an invasion day. To me, it felt contradictory; it’s meant to unite Australians, but it felt exclusionary. It’s not something that everyone can celebrate, or participate in.

Can you pinpoint when your views shifted, and why? I was around 17 or 18. In my late teens I was learning more about history – not just at school, but for personal interest. Every year around Australia Day, the media likes to cover this debate a lot, and I began to pay attention to what was going on. University was important, too, because the University of Technology Sydney is big on Indigenous education.

Is there anyone in your orbit who holds the opposite view? A lot of people my age are quite progressive in that sense, and support changing the date. But a large proportion of people I’ve interacted with have apathetic views, they don’t care enough about it to strike up a conversation. Most of the older people I know don’t have that tradition of Australia Day because they’re immigrants. The older people I’ve interacted with in education settings, I felt most of the time they were implying that they were in favour of changing the date. I haven’t been met with too much resistance.

Do many people feel that the link between Australia Day and the first British arrivals excludes migrants from other parts of the world? I feel like a lot of us think this day doesn’t really concern us. It was never really meant to include non-white Australians. Politicians in the past have said changing Australia Day is un-Australian, but that’s a word used in the past to signal the majority group, which in this case is white and Anglo-Australians. For the migrant community it doesn’t have the painful connotations. But it feels like a day we don’t really partake in.

Malakai Marr, 19, landscaper, Eora and Thungutti man

How do you feel about the date of Australia Day? To me, it’s a day of mourning, and a day to reflect on my ancestors who were traumatised by the arrival of Europeans on January 26. As the original Australians, we should have more respect from our peers and government for our request to change the date. It’s not a happy day.

Malakai Marr.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Have you always felt this way? As a kid you don’t really understand what it actually means and what actually happens, but as you get older you understand, and it makes you feel like you have to do or say something. Because what’s happened to our people, I wouldn’t wish (for) our worst enemy.

Have you ever marked it in any way? My whole community gathers for a thing we call yabun. It means beats to music, so we mark it as a day of remembrance, mourning and we call it invasion day.

The debate over changing the date has become much more prominent over the past few years. How do you feel about that? We must change the date. The government and the whole of Australia would earn the respect of every Koori to walk this nation. If only they knew the full story of what happened, the deaths, the stolen children, the rapes, the sadness. Then they would understand, and appreciate what it felt like for my people back then. I really think people need to educate themselves more.

What sort of conversations do you have with your non-Indigenous friends about it? I’ve had plenty of non-Indigenous friends ask me to educate them on this, as it was never brought to their attention. Now most of those friends come and mourn with us, and go to yabun with our community. It’s so good to see.

What will you do on January 26? I’ll head over to yabun and march for what’s right. I’ll give back to my community and the people who have tried so hard over so many years. I’ll stay proud, black and deadly for my people.

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