What does Australia Day mean to my grandkids?
I expect them to grow up in Australia.
Their future and Australia’s future will be inextricable linked. What does it
mean for them to be an Australian?
To see how Australia will flow downstream
they need to look upstream. They need to know how we arrived where we are.
They need to know Australia’s history.
Australian aborigines arrived at least
70,000 years ago. They inhabited the whole continent including Tasmania. Their
art, music and traditions are some of the oldest surviving examples in the
world.
On 26th January 1788 a fleet of British
ships arrived at Botany Bay to establish a penal colony. The life of the
original colonists was not luxurious. Many convicts were British lower class
who stole to survive; were put in chains; herded on ships for a dangerous
voyage into the unknown; and did not have any descendants.
When the British and the indigenous
Australians met a variety of things happened. They cooperated and worked
together. They fought violently. There was bravery and selfless behaviour on
both sides. But the British were better armed and eventually won. The indigenous
Australians lost.
Today Australians with an aboriginal
heritage are more likely to be in prison. To have worse outcomes in all social
indicators. Health. Employment. Education. Life expectancy. Maternal health.
As history is written by the winners my
education told me the British view of the meeting between two different
cultures. I was told the British version.
I was not told the names and the stories
of the courageous aborigines who fought to defend their land and their way of
life. What is the story of the aborigines
who fought to defend their land? What happened?
Many other peoples around the world know
a lot more about their history than I do. Many Americans know the names and
stories of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. Many know about the battle of Little
Bighorn and Custer.
Most Kiwis know about the battles between
the British and the Maoris. They know that the battles ended with the treaty of
Waitangi. The treaty has an important place in the history of the country
and the ethos of the country. 6th February is Waitangi Day.
Many other countries go forward by
remembering their painful past. In South Africa a truth and reconciliation
commission was established to illuminate through the past. In Auschwitz and
Hiroshima there are memorials that remember the past. To fail to remember buries the victims twice.
I need to speak to my grandkids about
Australia Day. They need to know the truth about our past. I can’t ignore this
day or bypass it They need to know about
16.1.1788 and what followed.
Once my grandkids know Australia’s history they can then move forward with
confidence.
We are a country with a fortunate past.
We benefited by being part of the British Empire. The connections and
institutions we reaped. We benefit from Aboriginal knowledge of the land and
its flora and fauna. We benefit today from what refugees and boat people bring.
We are a democracy without
discrimination. Everybody has equal rights and opportunity but everybody is
different and has a different heritage. The heritage may be a boat from Asia;
the British diaspora; post WW2 migrants or aboriginal heritage going back
thousands of years.
We all may have the same rights but we
are not all equal. Some of us need help. Some of us are disabled physically,
socially or mentally. Some of us need help in order to live a healthy, happy
and productive life.
As well as talking to my grandkids about
where we came from and where we are going.
I need to warn them. About
identity politics. How it divides us. Ties us to our history. Locks us into
permanent thoughts on race, ethnicity, religion, gender or age.
My grandkids need to be Australian and
global citizens. Citizens who are proud of their unique identity and respect
everybody’s else’s individual identity and heritage. I hope they grow up in a
world full where everybody has a healthy and happy live.
