If you ask me, Australia Day is an important day, in the Australian calendar, and one which is intended to celebrate life in a truly great country and, at the same time, to bring Australians closer together; a very desirable goal in today’s dysfunctional world. While many Australians will embrace the day with the correct mindset and will celebrate with friends and family around a convenient BBQ, there are some who see Australia Day as a chance to attack the Australian lifestyle and our way of life. The truly sad thing is that many of these antagonists are actually Australians themselves; at least they are by birth or legal process although they are certainly not Australian in their heart and mind.
What I wish we could celebrate, this Australia day, is a country that is united and free from all of these divisive viewpoints and movements, a country where all Australians realise how lucky they are and how much worse off they would be if they lived elsewhere.
It would be wonderful if we could have an Australia Day celebration without some clown referring to it as ‘invasion day’. Such comments only further degrade the relationship between Australians of different origins and, I believe, are intended to do so. I used the term ‘Australians of different origins’, instead of the terms ‘indigenous’ and ‘non-indigenous’ Australians because to differentiate between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians is divisive and racist itself. It doesn’t matter whether your ancestors arrived here 40,000 years ago or 10 years ago, what makes us Australian is our mutual love of this country and a willingness to accept anyone else who wants to be an Australian, not just on paper, but in their heart and mind.
If we want to end racism then we have to stop talking about indigenous and non-indigenous, we have to stop making the distinction between black, white or yellow and we have to forget the ‘us and them’ thinking which is rife throughout Government policies and which is propagated by many activists from both sides of this debate. We have to start thinking of people as Australian regardless of the colour of their skin or the origin of their ancestors and start making that judgement based on their willingness to be Australian. So long as a person wants to be Australian, wants to assimilate, wants to invite you to an Australia Day barbie, to use this event as a metaphor for embracing the Aussie life, then that person is an Australian.
All Australians, regardless of their skin colour, their religion, the origin of their ancestors or where they live in this great country, should have exactly the same freedoms, exactly the same rights, exactly the same entitlements and exactly the same chances for advancement and reward for effort. No single group, within the Australian community, should feel that they have an entitlement in excess of that which is available to all other groups. No single group should try and force their views or beliefs on any other Australian. It is true that we are all individuals, with different views, beliefs and aspirations but what makes us Australian is the common love and appreciation for the freedoms, safety and lifestyle that we can have in this great land and our respect for our neighbours, both near and far.
If you don’t understand what Australia day is about, if you want to attack our way of life, our laws, our institutions and our freedoms, then perhaps you, more than anyone, needs to attend an Australia Day event. Perhaps you need to just sit and listen to the conversations of the Australians around you, listen to the laughter and the banter that normally goes with such a gathering. Listen to those Australians enjoying themselves without fear of untimely death and violence. While you are listening to all of this, try to imagine the sound of explosions, screams, gunfire and sirens because these are the sounds that many less fortunate countries hear all the time, on a daily basis. These are the sounds of dysfunctional countries being torn apart by groups who have placed their peculiar beliefs, twisted doctrines and hatred before loyalty to their country and respect for their neighbours.
Rather than risk joining the long list of dysfunctional nations, Australian’s should enjoy this coming Australia Day with a sense of comradeship and a willingness to work together to solve our problems and our differences. Imagine how great this country could be, and how much better off every single Australian would be, if we all worked together on making improvements, as a team, rather than dismantling and attacking what we have.
Happy Australia Day!
It is ridiculous the things people can get triggered about these days.
Yes, it would seem that some people just spend their time looking for pathetic causes to create and things to complain about.