Australia Day 2018

Here in Australia, we celebrate Australia Day on the 26th of January. It’s a national holiday, spent doing the sorts of things Australians are famous for loving, namely, going to the beach, cooking lamb or sangers (read: sausages) on a BBQ with a bunch of friends. But mostly, just enjoying a day off from work. This year Australia Day falls on a Friday. Perfect! Australians love our long weekends.

(Picture source: https://countrydigest.org/australia/)

But not everyone celebrates Australia Day and not everyone thinks it should be celebrated on January 26th. It is, in more recent years, what we call controversial.

And it doesn’t take much looking back into Australian history to discover why. Prior to the 26th of January 1788, the Indigenous residents of this great land had lived happily for a very, very long time. Suddenly, tall ships containing white ghost with exploding sticks arrived on the shores of New South Wales and a very great injustice began.

(Picture source: https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/vic/2017/08/16/melbourne-council-votes-drop-australia-day-ceremonies/)

Some people call the 26th of January Invasion Day and see it as a day of mourning, not of celebration.

Others say we’ve come a long way, with our National Sorry Day, the day that the Australian Government gave a public apology in Parliament recognising the damage done to our Indigenous residents through horrendous policies from the past, where families were torn apart and cultures, ancient cultures, destroyed. We, as Australians, had a lot to be sorry for. And we still do.

The year Australia Day changed for me

This photo is of some of my family celebrating Australia Day in Broome, Western Australia about 6 Years ago. It was the week before we moved to a primarily Indigenous Community. Moving to this community, and seeing the long-term, ongoing effects of some of the Australian government’s past policies changed my feelings toward Australia Day. I had, previously, loved celebrating our National Day, our great nation, our people and culture and all that entails. But that year I saw it through different eyes because I saw first hand the ongoing, deep issues we created for our original residents. It personalised it for me. It made the story of invasion, rather than settlement, real.

There are a lot of social issues, a lot of hurts still to be healed, a lot of generational problems that cannot be solved overnight. It’s so, so complicated. But there are also a lot of really good things happening in some of our Indigenous communities. A sense of pride for who our Indigenous people are and all they represent, is slowly returning to their communities. Languages are being restored (though many have become extinct), culture is once again being passed down from one generation to the next. People are starting to stand up and be proud that they’re indigenous Australians.

But that doesn’t take away from the fact that January 26th 1788 was not a good day in the history of the world, let alone in the history of Australia.

(Photo source: http://aussiegossip.com.au/life/celebrate-australia-day/)

I remember last Australia Day, in 2017, reading many different suggestions about Australia Day and whether the date should be moved, or whether the 26th should be turned into a day of mourning. There are many passionate people out there with their opinion on the matter. But the one I liked, and that I subscribe to the most was this. That we begin January 26th in sobering rememberance of the events in 1788, when Australia was illegally invaded by the British, and the ongoing effects that had on Indigenous Australians. And then, at mid-day, we begin the celebrations. We celebrate who we are becoming as a nation, a nation who accepts that wrongs were done in the past and spends its days trying to make it right again. A nation who recognises saying sorry isn’t enough, and gets behind those who want to see a change and make a difference in the lives of those who have been wronged. After a time of mourning, we begin a celebration of the reconciliation process, and the original culture of our great land, and how it is a part of us all and makes us who we are as Australians, whether Indigenous, a descendent of the invaders, a migrant, or someone wanting to call Australian their permanent home.

With all that in mind, I’ve joined in with 11 other Australasian authors to give away a Prize in celebration of Australia and the great nation of people we are. The 12 novels are written by Australians and many are set in Australia as well. The Boy in the Hoodie, is, ofcourse, both. To enter, pop along to this website: http://www.iolagoulton.com/giveaways/AustraliaDay and sign up to win.

And happy Australia Day - at least for after midday.

If you would like to connect with Catriona further, check out her website here, or head over to Facebook and say g’day here.