Ne News
26 January 2018
Tomorrow, people around Australia will be celebrating Australia Day. Some will be celebrating, while others will be protesting. And there is a debate over when to celebrate Australia Day. And while Ne News supports changing the day to say the day of the Mabo Decision or Wattle Day (September 1), we need to appreciate the complexity of the issue at hand. It is simplistic to just celebrate it on January 26 or move it to a different date (in fact, the original Australia Day was on 30 July 1915, and January 26 has been a public holiday since 1994 - http://www.smh.com.au/comment/view-from-the-street/australia-day-must-be-preserved-as-history-intended-in-july-20161204-gt3xmx.html), and we need to look beyond the black and white nature of this issue.
For some people, January 26 is a day of mourning (and we need to look at that), but January 26 is also a date of new beginnings (such as citizenship ceremonies around Australia, and we need to look at that as well, even though there are citizenship ceremonies every day somewhere in Australia). And while Ne News doesn't condone the violence that indigenous Australians faced throughout history and we need to appreciate history as if we are ignorant of history, we are condemned to repeat it. Some leaders want to whitewash indigenous history from Australian history, but we need to acknowledge our 60,000 year history and not just from 1788, which some leaders believe that Australian history "began". We also need to look at the future and where Australia will go in the 21st Century, but for us to look at the future, we need to look at the 60,000 year Australian history and not just the 200 plus years of European settlement (or invasion).
Since 1788, we have seen massacres on the frontiers of indigenous Australians by white settlers. We have seen indigenous children taken from their families. We have even seen the enslavement of indigenous people. Take the quote from Governor Macquarie shown on the left, and this was the situation that indigenous Australians faced ever since 1788. We must not forget that when we celebrate Australia Day (or Invasion Day) today.
January 26 is a complex issue that demands complex solutions and not a simple solution that the mainstream media proposes. And while we celebrate Australia Day (or protest on Invasion Day), we must remember that this issue is very complex and demands a complex solution rather than a band-aid solution. We must look at the future, but at the same time remember what has happened over the past 60,000 years in Australia. Acknowledging the past may not be pretty (due to the things that happened on the frontiers or the Stolen Generation), we need to acknowledge the past as it is the only way we can make peace with the past and we can move on together into the 21st Century.
26 January 2018
Tomorrow, people around Australia will be celebrating Australia Day. Some will be celebrating, while others will be protesting. And there is a debate over when to celebrate Australia Day. And while Ne News supports changing the day to say the day of the Mabo Decision or Wattle Day (September 1), we need to appreciate the complexity of the issue at hand. It is simplistic to just celebrate it on January 26 or move it to a different date (in fact, the original Australia Day was on 30 July 1915, and January 26 has been a public holiday since 1994 - http://www.smh.com.au/comment/view-from-the-street/australia-day-must-be-preserved-as-history-intended-in-july-20161204-gt3xmx.html), and we need to look beyond the black and white nature of this issue.
For some people, January 26 is a day of mourning (and we need to look at that), but January 26 is also a date of new beginnings (such as citizenship ceremonies around Australia, and we need to look at that as well, even though there are citizenship ceremonies every day somewhere in Australia). And while Ne News doesn't condone the violence that indigenous Australians faced throughout history and we need to appreciate history as if we are ignorant of history, we are condemned to repeat it. Some leaders want to whitewash indigenous history from Australian history, but we need to acknowledge our 60,000 year history and not just from 1788, which some leaders believe that Australian history "began". We also need to look at the future and where Australia will go in the 21st Century, but for us to look at the future, we need to look at the 60,000 year Australian history and not just the 200 plus years of European settlement (or invasion).
January 26 is a complex issue that demands complex solutions and not a simple solution that the mainstream media proposes. And while we celebrate Australia Day (or protest on Invasion Day), we must remember that this issue is very complex and demands a complex solution rather than a band-aid solution. We must look at the future, but at the same time remember what has happened over the past 60,000 years in Australia. Acknowledging the past may not be pretty (due to the things that happened on the frontiers or the Stolen Generation), we need to acknowledge the past as it is the only way we can make peace with the past and we can move on together into the 21st Century.
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