Australia Day Is Back

This Week’s Big Event

After years of controversy, Australians are warming back up to the country’s national day of ‘unity’. They’ve become tired of all the negativity ( News.com.au). I’ve been invited to three local events, so I don’t need to host one myself. For years, I have been holding get-togethers on Australia Day at home and encouraging my guests to engage in some of the issues with a sense of camaraderie. Initially, I found people avoided the topic, so I created games and quizzes — just click the links to find them and feel free to use them at your event.

In a report from The Project Rising Support For Australia Day, a poll by the conservative Institute of Public Affairs found 69% of Aussies think Australia Day should stay on January 26th, up from 63% last year. 52% of 18–32 year olds agree, up from 42%.

It’s good to see Aussies coming out of a state of paralyzing shame. But the tragic side of the past couple of decades is how little real discussion has been held. I think this explains the rather crude back-tracking.

LACK OF LEADERSHIP

The Prime Minister showed some consistency, committing to attend the official function in Canberra as he did when in opposition. But Peter Dutton says he won’t be attending. Strange. His only reason was, “Well it’s not the tradition, firstly. And I know the Prime Minister carries on with this, but frankly I think [he] is pretty unhinged in some of his comments at the moment.” ( Daily Mail) Dutton appears to be trying to win culture war points that don’t pin him down to anything harder than standing in front of one flag instead of three. He’s being very wishy-washy about lowering immigration, talking about permanent visas reductions for two years whilst giving no substantive policy on reducing temporary visas that make up the bulk of the intake.

Opinions Are Still Divided

Mass consciousness moves slowly and in a lumbering way. If we simply return to ‘celebrating’ a day of national ‘unity’ on the 26th of January, the past 20 years of social discord will have been for nothing. Have we gained anything from it? Ali Waleed says the problem has been that no other date has really emerged. Perhaps that’s because the years of accusatory shaming about ‘Invasion Day’ and every other vestige of British culture muzzled any proper response. Reconciliation between First and Second Australians has been retarded by years of racial lambasting. That’s why no new ideas that would bring Aboriginal and British-descent Australians together have been produced, such as celebrating Federation Day and Mabo Day. Both sides can take responsibility. The Protestant Christian idea of ‘original sin’ and consulting one’s conscience survived the decline in church-going. This, combined with the earnest British desire to ‘do good’ is where white guilt pride comes from. Victimhood, on the other hand, is an easy way of reaping rewards and avoiding responsibility. The Project video report shows how opinions are still divided.

Are We Making Progress?

However, the resurgence of support for January 26th may be progress of sorts. John Paul Janke (NITV) says Aboriginal history is something all Australians can celebrate because ‘ that’s the story of us’ ( The Project). It is refreshing to see an Aboriginal Australian talk of ‘us’ after the unnecessary attempt to enshrine racial division in the constitution. He calls on Australians to learn about Aboriginal history. Unfortunately, he is competing with literally every other culture on the planet for Australians’ attention. Multiculturalism has greatly complicated and sidelined the process of reconciliation. The Australian Aboriginal movement aligned itself with this perverse neo-colonialization; an ethos that has seen their numbers shrink in proportion to the surging population of immigrants. They have been marginalized bu it and yet made the center-fold for it.

Meanwhile, I’ve been tinkering with the issues myself.

What To Do About January 26th

CQU Historian Dr Jones suggests March 3rd is a better date because it’s when the Australia Act 1986 was passed, severing the last legal links to the U.K. Parliament. He suggests this is our true Independence Day. The Australia Act 1986 is a significant milestone, but not the most significant by a long shot. There was no referendum. Dr Jones goes on to say we’ll become a republic one day and that’ll be our Australia Day. That also fails as a well-informed, balanced perspective. For a start, we are already a republic (we call it a Commonwealth) and our Head of State arrangements are symbolic. (Also, we should be careful not to assume the only choice is between the existing constitutional monarchy and an elected Australian President. See Australian Constitutional Monarch y.)

Our constitution came into effect, via referendum, on January 1st, 1901, the first day of the 20th Century. For the first time in human history, a continent became a nation. Federation Day is the pinnacle event in Australia’s transition to nationhood. Celebrations occur on NYE, not NYD. I know from personal experience that everyone’s up for a late afternoon BBQ celebration on Federation Day. It’s a summer recovery party.

January 26th should be Settlement Day and recognize the pivotal contribution of the British on this continent. Remember, New South Wales didn’t become ‘Australia’ until at least 1829 when New Holland became the Swan River Colony (later Western Australia). The name Australia was popularised by the explorer Matthew Flinders from 1804, and it has been in official use since 1817 ( Wikipedia).

Maybe we don’t need an Australia Day for a while. Let’s stop pretending we’re that united. When the time is right, an Australia Day may emerge, but in the meantime, learn about what January 26th means.

Originally published at http://equanimity.blog on January 21, 2025.