Australia Day

My gripe with Australia Day is not what most people would seem to think in this day and age.  My gripe is against the people that refer to it as "Invasion Day" or some other negative connotation and view the day as a day of mourning rather than a day of celebration for the country that we live in. I think it's time we as "Australian's" need to reassess what the day actually means to our country.

I understand that the English came to Australia and it was a country that was inhabitated by a nationality of people who'd been here for tens of thousands of years. The English then began to slaughter those inhabitants. It was horrible. Hundreds of thousands of people died. The English claimed the land as their own and eventually named it Australia. I understand why that is a significant part of the Aboriginal and, indeed, Australian history. I also understand that the Aborignal people were treated as animals until as late as 1967. Again it was horrible. Everything that happened to the Aboriginal people from 1788 until 1967 was horrible. To a lesser, but not insignificant, extent a lot of things that have happened to them since then probably haven't been the best either.

But this is where my gripe really begins. I wasn't alive in 1788. I wasn't alive in 1967. I've never personally done anything to denegrate or racially villify an Aboriginal person. I was however born in Australia. I do personally identify as being Australian. I can't tell you what my "roots" are. I don't know how many generations my family have been in Australia. I know that somewhere along the line I had a great grandfather some amount removed who was from Spain. I know that my family had to change their last name from Lorenzo to Lawrence because of racism that was prevalent in Australia at the time. There are times that I wish that my great grandfather had gone to a more culturally sensitive country where our Spanish roots had been embraced but I don't blame whole generations of Australians for that. The whole world was ridiculously racist at that time. It is what it is.

What I do embrace is being "Australian". I love this country! Unashamedly. I've been around it a few times and there really isn't a part of it that I don't like. It's a beautiful country! I also love the environment we have. Amazing weather throughout most of our country. We have a society unparralleled in most of the Western world. I spent nearly a fifth of my life working for our Social Security department and was privy to multiple studies comparing our benefits to the rest of the world and people have so many more benefits than anywhere else in the world. We have a culture that is the best most laid back in the world. "G'Day" is probably my favourite saying in the world, followed by "how ya goin?". I've spent the majority of 2014 walking around in my "pluggers". I really love this country!

This is why I have a gripe. I understand the origins of "Australia Day". I understand that the day was originally intended to celebrate the day that the country was landed on by the First Fleet. In retrospect that celebration is tactless and an insult to a significant portion of our citizens. But I also understand that 80% of people don't understand the intent of the day. You only have to read a social media medium and read the "LOLs" "OMGs" and "OH HAIs" to realise that the average person can't form a full sentence let alone understand the significance of the day. Most people only really care that they get a day off to have a bbq and a carton or two and "get maggot".

So why dampen the day? Why make it a day of protest? Are you not Australian? None of the facts mentioned in this article are less true on any other day of the year. So why not take one day off protesting for the year and celebrate that you live in the best country in the world? Let's throw race, colour and creed out the window for one day and celebrate the fact that we live in the "Great Southern Land". Let's sing songs that celebrate everyone that lives in this country, let's rewrite our future by becoming one amazing nationality that embraces everyone! Let's stop the hate and looking back at the past (which between you and me can't be changed) and look to the future which hasn't been written yet. Let's write a future that shows the rest of the world that this really is the lucky country.

I can't be the only one who wants the hate to stop?