downunder update

The new Australian of the Year, Mick Dodson, says the use of January 26 as Australia Day alienates Indigenous Australians because it commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet, and he has urged national debate on whether or not to change the date.

But Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has emphatically ruled out any change with a “simple, respectful, but straightforward no”.

MICK DODSON: Well, I think we should have a conversation about that. I understand how many, many Indigenous Australians feel about January the 26th and I share their concerns about that because that represents the day that in effect our world came crashing down. And many Indigenous Australians regard it as Invasion Day.

Prof Dodson, a tireless campaigner for indigenous rights, was presented the award by the prime minister a year after Kevin Rudd apologised to the stolen generations.

The Yawuru man, originally from the Broome area, was the nation’s first indigenous social justice commissioner after rising to prominence during a Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody from 1988 to 1990. He has been a prominent advocate of land rights and the reform of laws that discriminate against the indigenous population.

He works and lives in Canberra as the Director of the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at the Australian National University, and is also co-Chair of Reconciliation Australia, a not-for-profit organization.

The Australian of the Year award has been given annually since 1960 for people that have excelled in their field, made a significant contribution to Australia and been a role model.

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