Australia Day: nation reflects on where we came from – and where we’re going

It seemed to be a more reflective country enjoying this Australia Day, cautiously optimistic the pandemic has peaked, and quietly confident that better times are ahead.

Victoria de Jonge with Matilda, 2, at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Emma Delahunty spent a good part of her Australia Day cooling off in the Todd River, happy to be sharing the moment with her three-year-old son Banjo, and hoping the country senses what she does – that change is in the air.

“I feel like it’s a day of reflection. not celebration,” Ms Delahunty says, watching her excited son and his friends frolic in the often-dry Todd, just outside Alice Springs.

“For me, today, it’s just coming down, sitting on country. Just ­reflecting.”

The 41-year-old health policy adviser, who is non-Indigenous but married to Waramungu man William Fitz Jungarrayi, welcomes the new mood to talk about how – and whether – January 26 should be celebrated.

“I think it’s not just as simple as moving the day to a different date. I think it’s a whole change of conversation that needs the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ­Islander people to be front and centre,” she said.

It seemed to be a more reflective country enjoying this Australia Day, cautiously optimistic the pandemic has peaked, and quietly confident that better times are ahead.

We congratulated ourselves on picking Dylan Alcott as Australian of the Year because, even if we didn’t have a personal hand in it, it was a rare moment of absolute, unchallenged national unity.

We stuck to tradition and went to the beach in droves, and if we didn’t, you’d likely to find us in the backyard playing cricket, or in front of the TV watching it.

We welcomed 16,000 proud new citizens, encouraging them, as Scott Morrison said, to add their “threads to Australia’s rich ­tapestry”.

Kids lead the way during an Invasion Day rally in Brisbane on Wednesday. Picture: Dan Peled

We got up at dawn to watch the Opera House’s sails light up with the stunning Goanna Songline projection by Pitjantjatjara artist David Miller, before the Australian and Aboriginal flags were raised simultaneously over the Harbour Bridge.

We beat the crowds to claim the best spot for our picnic blanket around Sydney Harbour, to watch the Ferrython and the Tall Ships Race.

The more rowdy partied on a luxury yacht at The Spit on the Gold Coast with “Candyman 2.0” Troy Williams overseeing the revelry, at least until the cops moved in and barricading roads to bar unfortunate late arrivals.

And many thousands marched in “Invasion Day” rallies across the country, where protesters appealed for more urgent focus on the high rate of Indigenous deaths in custody, and to change the date for Australia Day.

It was a similar sentiment from Isabella Di Genua, 26, and a bunch of mates who drove from the Gold Coast to their favourite swimming hole, the Bexhill Quarry, near Ballina.

Ms Di Genua said her view of Australia Day had changed over time.

“The more I’ve researched it and become aware of what the day actually means, I don’t celebrate Australia Day because it’s Invasion Day,” Ms Di Genua said.

“We just enjoy the public holiday – a day off work.”

Pitjantjatjara artist David Miller in front of his Goanna Songline artwork projected on to the Sydney Opera House. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Victoria de Jonge used the holiday to take her two-year-old daughter Matilda to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane while husband Peter was playing golf. The UK-born legal administrator also said her views had changed since she arrived in Australia as a 15-year-old.

“I think it’s very important, ­especially with my daughter, I want to acknowledge the ancestors and the Aboriginal people – this is their land,” Ms de Jonge said. “But when I first moved here I naively thought it was just a great public holiday.

“Now I’ve got older and more mature, I think it shouldn’t be about conquering, it should be about the Aboriginal people, and I’d like to make sure Matilda has that in her values.”

For the Prime Minister, the day was less about the need for change and more about giving thanks for what the country has achieved in some of the “toughest years” for the nation since the Great ­Depression.

Emma Delahunty with son Banjo in the Todd River in Alice Springs. Picture: Emma Murray

During the national citizenship ceremony held in Canberra, Mr Morrison honoured Indigenous and non-­Indigenous Australians, praising Australia as the “most successful and multi-faith nation on Earth”.

Australians had shown true strength and grit in recent times, he said, and should be excited about the future.

“Despite all we have endured and the challenges that are still ahead, I am just thankful to be an Australian and to live in Australia with my family – this land we call home.”

Anthony Albanese also described Australia as the “most successful multicultural nat­ion on Earth”.

But the Opposition Leader pledged to recognise First Nations Australians by establishing a voice to parliament if he is elected prime minister at the poll due by May.

He said Australia should be proud to be home to the oldest continuous civilisation on the planet.