Jan 28 2008
Australia Day
Australia Day was initiated “with drinking and merriment’ in the 19th century but since the 1988 Bi-Centennial Year, the public imagination has greeted the holiday as a community celebration of recognition of the past and anticipation of a bright future.
1988 was also named a Year of Mourning for the Indigenous Australians who regard the year as a celebration of survival. The national holiday now celebrates the community cultural accomplishments of all Australians. Photo by Ludo Kuipers: Boy from Mona Mona Mayiwunba dance group, Kuranda. Click to enlarge
From the very beginning, there was division about the concept of an “Australia Day’, a holiday to foster national identity. Simply put, there was no ‘national identity’.
Stolen Land From the moment that the colonisation of Australia began with the landing of Captain Cook in 1788, the Indigenous peoples were confronted with a powerful military force and a very different worldview. The colonists understood the continent to be open for the taking and the first owners were treated as intruders on their own lands.
Like most colonists of those times, the English didn’t view their actions as brutal invasion, but instead lived by the myth of peaceful settlement of lands that belonged to no-one, a myth that was reinforced by the laws of the coloniser. The entire continent of Australia was claimed on behalf of the British Crown but the process of dispossession occurred parcel by parcel over the next two hundred years.
Social justice, being entitled to the same rights and services as all other citizens, was difficult to achieve for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders because of this history of governmental and colonial racism. In recent years, all the people of Australia are achieving complete social justice.
Penal colony : In 1788, eleven English ships of the First Fleet landed their ‘cargo’ of around 780 convicts at Botany Bay in New South Wales Transportation was an integral part of the English system of punishment as a way to deal with increased poverty.
Simple larceny, or robbery, meant transportation for seven years, while compound larceny - stealing goods worth more than a shilling (about $50 Aus in today’s money)- meant death by hanging. Men had to be convicted three times before being transported, whereas women were almost always transported for a first offence. The great majority of convicts were working men and women with a range of skills.
When the last shipment of convicts disembarked in Western Australia in 1868, the total number of transported convicts stood at around 162,000 men and women. But there were now enough people and the colony could sustain itself without the forced labour. The convicts had served their purpose, the settlement had thrived — but the suffering was intense, and the memories remain. Photo: Port Arthur Prison, Tasmania.
While the historical aspects of the day must always be acknowledged, there is now a greater awareness of the need to celebrate contemporary Australia with our diversity, remarkable achievements and bright future. Australians of convict descent now celebrate their heritage and join with the indigenous Australians in looking to the future.
After the Second World War, a strong migration programme brought an exciting and welcome expansion to the social climate of Australia, as Europeans redesigned the fruit growing regions, established large fishing production centres and incidentally developed the modern diverse and delightful cuisine. Since the Bi-Centenary, Australia Day celebrations have continued to grow in number and stature with the celebrations continuing to involve a larger and broader audience.
Australia Day Celebrations actively encourage participation of all Australians regardless of age, ethnicity and culture. Reconciliation with the original owners of the land is an important message of the day. In the local communities this includes recognition of the meaning of the day for indigenous Australians, and all over the country are Aboriginal flag-raising and welcoming ceremonies.
The first official celebration was called ‘Foundation Day’ and marked by sporting events. Horseracing was popular in the 1820s, as were regattas and the Anniversary Regatta first held in 1836, is still held on Sydney Harbour as the oldest continuous regatta in the world. Australia day is marked by beachside and ocean events across the continent. Most of us will celebrate the day on the beach, in the traditional manner, with “drinking and merriment”.
Like to shout me a cold beer?
