Australia Day

Today is Australia Day. This national holiday marks the arrival of the First fleet in 1788 and the unfurling of the British flag upon Australian soil.

It's a day that deserves celebration, but it's also a chance to reflect on the roots of our community, buried as they are through the land of another.

In Australia, a country already famed for its laid-back demeanor, our nation's birth is marked by widespread celebration, a 24-hour commitment to performing no work whatsoever, and generally the consumption of beer and barbecued meats.

The country's popular youth radio station JJJ uses Australia Day to broadcast the Hottest 100, a day-long countdown of the year's best songs as determined by listeners' votes. Because of this, Australia Day has rare significance for the young folk. Many holidays are just a day off, but everyone seems to make an effort on Australia Day. One of my fondest Australia Day memories involves me and a group of friends buying a giant bucket off KFC and strolling through the hot afternoon eating chicken and listening to the countdown on a portable radio. As we wiped the grease from our fingers we bickered about which song would be number one.

In marking the date that the first ships came to claim the country, disgorging convicts upon the newest British colony, we are also marking the point at which the aboriginal population lost control of their land.

By global standards we're a young country. We are awesome, but we've got a teenage attitude to how we deal with some stuff. There's the temper tantrums we throw when immigrants ignore the 'keep out sign' we put on our bedroom door. There's the belief that we're the centre of the universe, despite our geographical position rendering us far from the global stage. There's our innate pride at being known as big drinkers. There's the 'lah lah lah' fingers in our ears position we can adopt when faced with big issues that no-one can fix but us.

The bottom line is that Aboriginal people were living here for a long time before we decided to come along. Deeming the Aboriginal people to be inferior we just took everything they had, and followed it up with killing a whole lot of people.

It's a complex issue, and reconciling the two cultures living here will be hard. Australia Day represents that in a way. How do we celebrate a beginning while being respectful of those for whom it was an ending? It's easy enough - just don't be a dick. Of course, a lot of Australians seem to be dicks every other day, so why stop now?

The thing is, nobody should refrain from celebrating Australia Day because of this. Just be respectful and mindful of the past. Some react strongly, hence the term 'Invasion Day', which I think is a fair call. There's nothing wrong with that. But some people, when faced with the unpleasant aspects of the occasion, will resent it, and query why they must suffer the guilt of sins perpetrated long before they were born. Guilt isn't necessary - but empathy is often in short supply.

If we're the great country we celebrate, the country we say we are, the country we strive to be, then surely we can raise a glass today not only in celebration, but in hope that one day, everyone will be at the party.