Australia Day Reflections Amidst Changing Perspectives

Happy Australia Day. There was a time when that wasn't such a loaded phrase; when Australians of all backgrounds could celebrate our national day without fear of joining a political bunfight. Now, the lead-up to today is dominated by arguments and factional debate about changing the date.

This year the bickering started even before Christmas with a story on a pub chain ditching flag bunting and other paraphernalia in favour of the less divisive "Long Weekend" tag. On the flip side, we carried stories on Sunrise and Seven News of Woolworths putting Australia Day merchandise back on the shelves after last year's PR debacle.

It's left me very confused about how to mark January 26th.

If you flicked on the TV 10 years ago, you would have seen very different coverage to what you see today. Now, we focus rightly on the incredible achievements of the Local Hero, Young, Senior and Australian of the Year but there isn't the wall-to-wall flag sunglasses and sombreros that we used to feature. Even if the date is yet to change, attitudes certainly are shifting and what you see on TV in the morning reflects that.

Support for Australia Day waxes and wanes each year. In 2022, 47 per cent of Australians wanted January 26 to remain the date for Australia Day. That figure rose to 61 per cent this year, according to polling by Resolve Strategic published this week. There is always a stark difference between younger and older Australians with the vast majority of 18 to 34-year-olds either wanting a change or believing change is inevitable in the next 10 years.

Could it be possible to keep the date and keep everyone happy? To acknowledge the past, particularly horrific injustices towards Indigenous Australians, and also celebrate the nation we are now? I can't be the only one who is both incredibly proud to be Australian and sick and tired of the annual culture wars fuelled by both sides of politics.

It was 1935 when January 26th was selected as our national day. The date was chosen to mark the anniversary of Captain Arthur Phillip and his crew raising the Union Jack flag on the beach at Sydney Cove in 1788. Protests started almost immediately; recorded as early 1938 when Australia marked 150 years of British settlement. However, it wasn't until 1994 when Australia Day became a public holiday in every state and territory that more attention was drawn to our national day, and how we celebrate it.

The official slogan "Reflect, Respect, Celebrate" has been labelled as a quiet rebranding of Australia Day, a way to avoid the controversy which fuels "Invasion Day" protests and inflammatory patriotism on the other side. Those three words sum up exactly how I feel about this day.

There will come a time when the "young and free" do make a change to Australia Day and find a date that avoids division but for now I hope we can use the day to reflect on our history and pay our respects to both the oldest continuous civilisation in the world and the many families of different backgrounds and faiths that make-up this wonderful multicultural country. For me, it won't be a celebration with flags and lamingtons and (Made in China) sombreros like it once was, it will simply be the Sunday of a long weekend, a quiet day spent with family and friends, a BBQ, maybe a trip to the beach. That sounds like Australia to me and that is something to rejoice.