Glass believes so, saying, “I have absolutely no issue with having a national day to celebrate being Australian, but the date must be one that all people who call Australia home can embrace with pride.” That’s echoed by Anrol, who backs the idea of moving the day to May 8 – a play on the Australian use of ‘mate’ as a term of endearment – in an effort to make the celebration more inclusive.
There appears to be little appetite from the authorities for any such change, however.
Last year, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the day represented how far Australia had come and added, “There is no escaping or cancelling this fact. For better and worse, it was the moment where the journey to our modern nation began.”
While a date change would be a start, there are clearly more serious issues that need to be addressed. Many Aboriginal people feel they remain wrongly stereotyped, as Debbie Fletcher from the Kalkadoon Nation in Queensland pointed out.
She told RT, “First Nations people in Australia are still demonised, and experience significant racism, both personal and systemic. The mainstream media continue to perpetuate the stereotyping of First Nations people, such as we are lazy, violent, and drunks.”
Part of the frustration is Aboriginals feel they have no voice. Thomas Mayor, a Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal, Erubamle Torres Strait Islander, said: “What must be understood is that Australia is a country with a constitution. We are a representative democracy. Yet Indigenous peoples are not recognised in our constitution, and we have no self-determination as to who represents us and our political priorities. The immediate goal is constitutional change to provide my people with a guaranteed representative body.”
© Thomas Mayor
Mayor, 44, is an author of books with an Aboriginal theme and feels education is key. “Australia is a country yet to reckon with its past and the Indigenous people that were dispossessed, slaughtered, and excluded. We are a nation that is worse than ignorant to our past,” he added.
While overt racism has decreased, one of the big concerns for Indigenous groups is being forced from their land so mineral resources can be acquired.
Arnol claimed, “I think it’s genocide by stealth. If they don’t do anything [to help communities], or drag their feet, more people will die off and the communities become unviable as a tribal group or nation. So they can say, ‘The land is no longer owned by this particularly community and we can mine it now’.”
This is a sentiment shared by Debbie Fletcher. She said, “ It is my view it serves our current and subsequent governments’ purpose to keep us oppressed so they are able to continue to use our land for mining, gas, and logging.”
Nevertheless, there’s undoubtedly increasing public support for Invasion Day and the meaning behind it. Significantly, it’s breaking the notion that Indigenous people want to exclude themselves. “Culture is very important to us and we like to keep a link to our past, but at the same time the Aboriginal population enjoy creature comforts like electricity, mobile phones, and things like that. We want to have the benefits of modern civilization, but still maintain our links with the oldest culture on the planet,” said Arnol. “Ten years ago, I would not have believed the amount of support we have now. I’ve mentioned it a couple of times to other Aboriginal people around the country and they say the same thing.”
All of the Aboriginal people I spoke to agreed on one thing – the need for a peaceful resolution. If they are a gauge, the Indigenous community isn’t consumed by bitterness or blaming white Australians for their ancestors’ actions.
And Arnol has one piece of advice for anyone unsure of Aboriginal people’s intentions.
“A lot of people have the wrong idea and that’s because no one has ever taken the time to stop and talk to an Aboriginal person,” he said. “People are scared of what they don’t know. If people were to stop and ask questions they’ll find we don’t mind talking, Stop and say ‘G’day’ and get to know us.”
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
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