Defend Australia’s day of unity

This weekend Australians will gather with friends and family to celebrate all that is great about our country, its people and the Australian way of life.

Our nation’s abundant natural beauty is a powerful backdrop to where we live and breathe our common values — freedom of thought and expression, dignity of the individual, faith in the rule of law, the equality of men and women, and a spirit of tolerance, fair play and compassion.

Our national day sits comfortably in a trinity of Australia’s most cherished symbols of nationhood, alongside the Australian flag and the commemoration of Anzac Day.

It’s the oldest of our national symbols, having been used as a national day of celebration since before Federation, older than our flag and predating the landing at Gallipoli.

But unlike the other two icons, Australia Day remains unprotected and could easily fall victim to the whims of a political party or special interest lobby group interested in political point-scoring rather than celebrating the virtues of a contemporary and forward-looking Australia.

Australians are comforted by the fact that both the flag and Anzac Day are protected by law in the Flags Act 1953 and Anzac Day Act 1995.

The decision by the Keating government to introduce legislation to protect Anzac Day followed widespread community concern over the “great symbolic significance” of the commemorative day to those who served, and the “fear that it may not be observed as much in ensuing years”.

In 1998 the Howard government passed legislation to amend the Flags Act 1953 so that our national flag could cease to be the national flag only if a new flag were submitted to the electors in each state and territory and a change was agreed by a majority of voters. The law now guarantees the flag can’t be changed unless the people of Australia have been consulted directly.

Even those strongly inclined to change our flag, such as former Tasmanian Greens senator Bob Brown, believed it should be done only through a national vote after a period of broad public discussion.

Now is the time to go one step further and give Australia Day the legal protection it rightly deserves.

A law to protect Australia Day will give Australians peace of mind that their national day will survive attempts from a very small and vocal minority that seeks to create division where there is unity, for political gain.

A bill could ensure that January 26 remains Australia Day and that no other date could be known by that name.

It also could guarantee that January 26 ceases to be Australia Day only after the Australian people have been consulted directly, and that to change the date of Australia Day an alternative date must be submitted to every Australian elector. It could require that any proposal for an alternative date must include January 26, and that Australia Day continue to be a public holiday.

The more we have discussed Australia Day, the more we have become united about our support for the present date.

Recent polls revealed up to 80 per cent of Australians are proud to celebrate Australia Day on January 26, including 98 per cent of Liberal voters and 73 per cent of Labor voters.

With this clear and compelling community endorsement we can be confident that giving a legislative safeguard to protecting this cherished national celebration will be greeted with bipartisanship.

After all, how could anyone object to the idea that every Australian should have the final say on their national day?

Dean Smith is a senator for Western Australia.