As patriotic Australians we pride ourselves to be a nation that accepts and respects the beliefs of all cultures, but on this historical day majority of Australians tend to forget the true meaning behind the celebration. If you ask today’s society, what they did this Australia day mass numbers would respond with “binged on alcohol” and “indulged in a barbecue.” Consequently, this day cannot be called a national celebration when some of our fellow Australians are grieving while others are out celebrating an occasion they know little about. Giving due regard to the indigenous people and their mostly negative perspective on this issue, should be a priority. A new date, not the 26th of January should be established, as rather than unite, it seems …show more content…
It is impossible to celebrate when it brings to mind the deep hurt born by our ancestors and how that suffering continues to impact today.” According to Richard Weston, of the Healing Foundation. Today, we focus on the partying when instead it should be a day of mourning by all. The strong views of the Indigenous community should be taken into consideration, their views should be made a priority, to reach a resolution that will stop the hurt and anger fuelled protests. Michael Mansell’s suggest “Australia Day is a celebration of an invasion which resulted in the ethnic cleansing of Aborigines. To participate would be to abandon the continuing struggle of my people.” In the hope that we understand that from the landing in Sydney Cove on the 26th of January 1788, only brought misery to the Indigenous communities as trauma was caused by government policies, and conflicts between settlers. In recognition of the events that followed the landing on our beautiful Australian shores, we should be able to acknowledge that all views are as equally important. According to a recent poll, 56%, just over half the nation do not mind when the holiday is held, while only 23% choose the 26th as the best available date. Furthermore, while some say, 'it’s tradition’ and the day should be kept, in reality the public holiday has only been held on the 26th of January, nationwide since
December 11th is not a date many Australians want to remember. But why? Because Australians don't condone racism or because they don't accept it is a great part of their society and history?
Summary of Text: ‘The Redfern Address’ is a speech that was given to a crowd made up of mainly indigenous Australians at the official opening of the United Nations International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples in Redfern Park, New South Wales. This text deals with many of the challenges that have been faced by Indigenous Australians over time, while prompting the audience to ask themselves, ‘How would I feel?’ Throughout the text, Keating challenges the views of history over time, outlines some of the outrageous crimes committed against the Indigenous community, and praises the indigenous people on their contribution to our nation, despite the way they have been treated.
The protest began with a “silent protest from the Town Hall to the Australian Hall” (AIATSIS, n.d.), attended by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. However, this march was delayed significantly due to the Australia day celebrations
It is well known that Captain Arthur Philips landed in Australia on 26th of January and took over the land and is referred to as “invasion Day”. Yet little do people know, Captain Arthur Phillip didn’t land in Australia on 26 January. He first landed in Australia between the 18th and 20th of January 1788 in Botany Bay, however where he landed he couldn’t find fresh water so he then sailed into Sydney Cove on the 26th where he found a Tank Stream…..problem solved. Australia day today celebrates our diverse society, our remarkable achievements, our future as a nation and how we can make Australia a better
ANZAC Day has been significant to Australians and New Zealanders since the first service in 1916 for memory of the soldiers who lost their live at Gallipoli in 1914 . Over time Anzac Day has changed to remember all the service men and women of Australia and New Zealand . As this year makes 100 years since the landings on the beach of Gallipoli, Australia has had a larger focus on Anzac Day compared to other years due to the importance .
However, what the Turnball supporters fail to recognise is that the days motives cannot be effectively celebrated by our first inhabitants on a date that coincides with pure heart ache. Hence, we need a day that still embodies these motives, however falls on a date that is also connected to this sense of unity we all desire. The first suggestion is a date that has recently appeared in the news, wattle day. The golden wattle is a symbol that has welcomed all of us over its 30 million year history, and also carries the colours that we have effectively branded as our own…the green and gold. Hence, wattle day can effectively celebrate our land, our people and of course our nation, therefore solving the conflict and sadness that surrounds our current date. Another alternative could be federation day, the day that our 6 British self-governing colonies united to form the Commonwealth of Australia. Maybe even the day that the White Australia Policy was created….a day that abolished all forms of racism in our country and also embraced diversity. Finally, the day that the Australia Act was formed, a day that terminated the British control of Australian legislature. It is true, as some argue, alternative dates will have their faults and draw criticism, however that is no reason not to consider new dates. Whatever criticism there is of the alternatives they will not attract the criticism of being based on race. The difference between these days and our current date is not in the values they celebrate, but rather the context of the values. The 26th of January is a date that coincides with the beginning of Aboriginal mistreatment, an embarrassing day for us as a nation. These supposed dates all celebrate events that have a positive connotation with our country and all of our
Australia is a relatively young country; only becoming a unified nation in 1901 (Commonwealth of Australia, 2012). A young country is no different from a young person; identity is an issue. Questions of who am I and where do I fit in the world are asked, and unfortunately not often answered until a tragedy occurs. National identity is a sense of a nation and its people as a connected whole. This feeling of cohesiveness can be shaped by many events in a nation’s history but none more so than war. War is a stressful, traumatic affair that changes forever, not only the people that go to it but the nation as a whole. Many consider the Great War Australia’s tragedy where we became a nation (Bollard, 2013) with our own modern identity.
We celebrate holidays like Victoria day and many people don’t even realize the reason why they don’t have to show up for work on this statutory holiday. Victoria day had begun in 1845 under the reign of Queen Victoria, it was really a celebration of her birthday. During her monarchy she had been the longest ruler to date and when she passed in 1901 the Canadian government officially recognized May 24 as a nation holiday called Victoria Day. During her time ruling people celebrated the day in many of the same ways we do today including camping, fireworks and parades, what really made this special though was the fact that it united Canada between the French and English Canadians. During this time monarchy separated Canadians from Americans and support for a monarchy meant protection of minority rights, so pledging allegiance to the crown through a holiday was a very rare common ground that both French and English citizens could enjoy. It is unfortunate that most people have grown accustomed to the holiday without taking the time to understand and appreciate the actual reason for the celebration. Victoria day is much more than just celebrating the birthday of a famous monarch it was paying respect to the longest running monarch in England of 63 years and uniting a feuding people. Some people may argue that if no one knows what we are commemorating than maybe we should just put an end to it. For me this
Why should we celebrate the day where the war that killed over 8,000 soldiers began. Anzac day is useless, disgraceful and should not be celebrated. In the beginning of the Anzac day celebrations, the day was about commemoration soldiers who fought and died in the wars. Over years the event has turned into a selfish celebration to demonstrate nationalistic spirit, qualities and Australian identity. Because of the loss of understanding in Anzac day it is becoming a meaningless event. Many children from the newer generations of children would not know what Anzac day is or why we have it. World War 1 was brutal and the soldiers were living in terrible living conditions that caused many deaths because of quickly spread disease. We should not be celebrating the death of so many soldiers. ”The cultification of an imperialist invasion of a foreign nation that Australia had no quarrel with is against all deals of modern society” Said Scott McIntyre. This line quoted from Scott McIntyre outlines one of many people’s beliefs that the war goes completely against what us Australians are supposed to demonstrate in our everyday lives. As Australians we should be demonstrating qualities of respect, kindness and respect for one another, not only within Australia but towards people from other parts of the world rather than what we have done, fought in a war with another country for no logical reason and to come out of the war with no winner and carelessly murder thousands of innocent soldiers from all over the world. Anzac day isn’t only pointless but it is embarrassing and unfair. When celebrating Anzac day, we are celebrating the day the beginning of the war Australia lost began. It is not only unfair on the soldiers who have died, it is unfair for the families of these helpless soldiers to have to celebrate the death date of their loved ones every
The Australian War Memorial website has a section dedicated to the tradition of ANZAC Day which explains its cultural importance to Australians and the rituals which surround commemoration services
...rial covered in the unit Aboriginal People that I have been studying at the University of Notre Dame Fremantle, Aboriginal people have had a long history of being subjected to dispossession and discriminatory acts that has been keep quite for too long. By standing together we are far more likely to achieve long lasting positive outcomes and a better future for all Australians.
This day is to remember and commemorate the mistreatment of the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. In Source A, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had apologised publicly on behalf of what happened in the Stolen Generations and the Voting Rights in his speech. In Source A, Kevin Rudd had said “We reflect on their past mistreatment.”, this meant that Kevin Rudd was apologizing for what past White Australians had done.Aboriginal People had accepted the apology Mr. Rudd had given the Aboriginals. The Aboriginals have lived out the 5th Beatitude of “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Aboriginals had lived out this Commandment because they showed mercy and accepted the apology of Kevin Rudd. This is how Aboriginal People and Torres Strait Islanders had lived out the Beatitudes throughout their
“Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human History. We reflect on their past mistreatment. We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations—this blemished chapter in our nation’s history. The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia’s history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future. We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians” (apology by Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, 16th November 2009, Parliament House, Canberra.)
People began to doubt whether Australia Day should be celebrated on 26th of January because it is such a divisive day. To Indigenous Australians, it is a day of mourning; it means the establishment of the British convict colony; and it is the day that they lost their sovereignty. Based on these facts, the pride of Non-Indigenous Australians is somewhat short of confidence. Obviously, the treatment of indigenous people is not something worth celebrating. Carter suggests that it is difficult to define ‘Australia’ because it relates to the questions of power and identity, which inevitably touches on the aboriginal issue. Different views towards these issues lead to a great confusion. And some historians suggest that Australia can be both a young and an old country, depending on whether to include the pre-colonial aboriginal history or
Australia is a very unique place, along with our multiculturalism there is also a strong heritage surrounding us. At first thought of Australian heritage we think about such landmarks as Uluru, The Sydney harbour bridge and The Sydney opera house, The Great Barrier reef and other internationally recognised places. But our heritage goes much deeper than that; it is far more than outstanding icons. Along with these icons there are also unsung places like the old cattle stations, Aboriginal missions, migrant hostels, War memorials, our unique wetlands and the towns and cities we have built. Adding all of these things together, helps to tell the story of who we are and how we have shaped this land in the unique identity it has today.