Australia Day

By Maureen McManamny 

With the Australia Day debate coming up again – our new caring Christian PM calls those opposed to ‘celebrating this day (out of respect for what it means to the First Nations People) – as “Indulgent Self Loathing which doesn’t make Oz stronger, being honest about our past does.” So let’s be honest about our colonial, convict past then.

The Brits invaded a country populated by one of the world’s oldest races that were doing just fine and managed to exist for over 40,000 yrs before the Brits arrived, slaughtered and enslaved them – the rightful owners of this land… that is being honest.

ScoMo went on to say the modern Australian nation began on January 26, 1788. So it was modern in 1788?  No – it was a penal colony – that is not modern – that was a barbaric and horrid solution by the Brits and means we were basically a great big jail.

A TOUCH OF OUR HISTORY
Captain Cook discovered Australia… forget the Dutch and others ‘found’ it before Cook and forget the fact that is wasn’t lost – it was occupied for 40,000 or so years.

There seems a few variations of the true dates.  Some say the First Fleet arrived at Botany Bay on 24 January 1788. Others say the fleet arrived at Botany Bay between 18th and 20th January 1788.

January 26, 1788 was the date on which Captain Arthur Phillip ‘took formal possession’ of the colony of New South Wales and raised the British flag for the first time in Sydney Cove. Formal possession being a euphemism for invading a populated country – something the Brits were really good at and our historians like to repeat so it sounds grand, heroic and fair.

THE TRUE AUSTRALIA DAY
Australia became an independent nation on 1 January 1901 when the British Parliament passed legislation allowing the six Australian colonies to govern in their own right as part of the Commonwealth of Australia.

So we could move the day and celebrate this quasi separation from the Brits (even though we are still in the Commonwealth). But as many Aussies are hung-over on Jan 1st. this would never be accepted by Govt… too soon to get pissed again, paint a few Aussie flags on our faces and chuck up in public parks – in true Australia day style.

OR ANOTHER TRUE AUSTRALIA DAY
In 1804, the British navigator Matthew Flinders proposed the names Terra Australis (southern land) or Australia for the whole continent, reserving “New Holland” for the western part of the continent. He continued to use “Australia” in his correspondence, while attempting to gather support for the term.

So we could celebrate when we stopped being New Holland and became Australia – the day we were named. Maybe the day of our naming in 1804 would be the best day to celebrate ‘Australia’ Day.

Either of these days means we are not celebrating the day the Brits’ invaded – which First Nations people are rightly upset and pissed off about.

HERE’S ANOTHER BETTER IDEA TO CELEBRATE
Let’s celebrate this – that First Nations people are the world’s longest continuous culture and people. Recent dating of the earliest known archaeological sites on the Australian continent – using thermo-luminescence and other modern dating techniques – have pushed back the date for Aboriginal presence in Australia to at least 40,000 years. Some of the evidence points to dates over 60,000 years old.

But this would go against every white, western, christian  principle the LNP stand for. And we have to consider our new ‘Envoy’ who’s been appointed to shape the future of this longest continuous culture.  Tony said – no one was here before Cook arrived- so let’s just white wash history shall we guys?   He wants to ban the schools from teaching their language and have all the Aboriginal kids ‘think in English’ …  good one, Tones.

AND PEOPLE WONDER WHY FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE GET ANGRY AND UPSET AT THE TREATMENT THEY’VE BEEN SUBJECTED TO SINCE ‘AUSTRALIA DAY’.

But then we must remember what our leader says – First Nations and those who are sympathetic to their feelings are being “Indulgent & Self Loathing which doesn’t make Oz stronger, being honest about our past does.”

About Australian Aboriginal Culture – the world’s longest continuous …