#ozday

👑🎣🏳️‍🌈👙🪃🏏🐑🥩🥪😁

Today, the 26th of January, is the day we celebrate Australia. We welcome new citizens and honour those Australians who have achieved great things in their life. We celebrate a way of life that a majority of Australians are so blessed to enjoy. However, it is also a day to reflect with sorrow on what this day in our history represented. On this day in 1788, the First Fleet of 11 ships arrived from Great Britain and Captain Arthur Phillip raised the Union Jack at Sydney Cove claiming a land already occupied. Sadly, this day also marked the beginning of a killing season with devastation and brutality cast upon the families and communities who already resided on this beautiful continent. So many people lost their lives in horrific circumstances.

I do not believe we can celebrate the victories of some without remembering the pain of others. In this letter I wish to recognise the suffering of our indigenous communities both past and present. This is a suffering that passes through centuries and across generations. I believe it will continue to until the duality of this day is nationally recognised and perhaps then there may be some healing. I also wish to recognise the asylum seekers who, unlike the First Fleet, were turned away from these shores when they were seeking a life of freedom; those who have been cast into inhumane conditions in detention waiting and hoping for Australia to one day welcome them as citizens. Today is a day of recognition. As much as there is to celebrate today, there is also much to mourn.

Finally, I want to thank this beautiful, diverse land that I love for being my home. I am grateful for the freedom it affords me and I continue to feel hope when I learn of the ongoing work being done by some amazing and generous individuals and social entrepreneurs to bring about real change and improve the lives of many. It is not just those who are recognised formally today that we celebrate but those all around the country whose work goes unseen. To all of you, thank you. And for those who are struggling today, please don’t give up hope. You belong here just as much as anyone else.

Australinvasion Day Essay 2016: we propose some major changes to our public holidays #ozday

Old baggage that we can move away from when we change the date

Love it or loath it, it’s Australia Day again.

Australia Day is certainly part of our cultural fabric, but that doesn’t mean it always must be called Australia Day and always must be held on 26th January until the end of time. With the social media cyclone of dogged opinions that blows us all over every year, this day now has more…