Australia Day

Today is Australia Day. It’s our national day and meant to be a happy finale to the holiday season, with citizenship ceremonies, parades, community events, BBQs and of course the sun and the beach. 26 January 1788 was the day that Captain Arthur Philip landed with a party of convicts at what is now Sydney Harbour, and so began the British colonisation of Australia and the dispossession of its traditional custodians and the destruction of their way of life.
 
Inevitably Australia Day is mired in controversy and for many it’s an unhappy and uncomfortable day. It seems impossible to commemorate those two events on the one day. Some call today ‘Invasion Day’, a day to mourn not to celebrate. There are calls to change the date of Australia Day to a less sensitive one, and to keep January 26 as a day of sombre reflection. Any such proposals are bound to be controversial too. This year things are further complicated by Covid, with restrictions on protests and outdoor gatherings and big police presences. Add to that the Australia Day honours that are announced today, at least one of them highly controversial, and you have an unhappy mix. So I chose the roses in the hope that they would shed a little peace.