I didn’t want to write about Australia Day because you’re as sick of reading about it as I am writing about it, but here I am, writing about Australia Day.
January 26 brings out the worst in many of those fighting over who we are and what we stand for.
Many Australians see it as a day of pain and hurt, and anyone who has read any Australian history would understand why First Nations people would feel that way.
If someone says something is hurting them, we should listen. It’s as simple as that.
I think we should change the date. I don’t think it’s a complicated suggestion.
We should still have a day to celebrate being Australian — it could still be called Australia Day — but the date it’s on should change, because it’s the kind thing to do.
It’s not a day that has been celebrated in earnest for all that long, in the grand scheme of things.
Even though it’s been an event for as long as I can remember, I don’t have a massive attachment to it.
As a kid I knew there was cricket on in Adelaide every January 26, so I could plop on the couch between swims in the pool.
People are still living with the lingering effects of the horrors of colonisation, while some were taken from their parents, or have family members who were part of the Stolen Generations.
Those people are hurting every Australia Day, and now a large part of the rest of the population is supporting them by pushing back against celebrations on January 26.
The sentiment of changing Australia Day unleashed vitriol in a lot of people, and I don’t understand why. There are plenty of things that make Australia great. We should celebrate them.
Doing it on a day that marks the beginning of plenty of pain for people seems callous.
Most of those people who will erupt in anger won’t have made it this far in the article, and will already be in the Facebook comment section screaming at me for being un-Australian or woke or a dropkick.
They could make a compelling case for the latter, but changing the date seems like the compassionate thing to do.
I’m unsure why anyone would want to continue celebrating the date knowing the hurt it causes.