Australia Day, a day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation. What being an Australian means, like talking on our Chinese phones to organise with friends to go to an Irish pub and knock back exotic beers, then order Greek and Lebanese food, to watch reruns of British comedies on our Italian leather seating, whilst posting ‘happy ‘Straya’ day mates!’ On American Facebook.
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Oh Australia, a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains and quirky contradictions.
Only in Australia can you take a day off for the Queen's birthday, that’s not even on the Queen's actual birthday. We have a bank robber as a national icon and dress really fancy for the races, only to then get pleasantly inebriated.
Our purely obscure levels of greeting, "How's it going?" How’s what going? "How you traveling?" I’m not going anywhere? If unsure, it’s always safe to respond to anything with ‘Good maaate’.
We can get a pizza delivered everywhere, but struggle to get any reasonable phone service. We have an obsession with Bali, when we have the best beaches in the world, and the Southern Cross tattoo, confirming how truly Australian we really are. The surf and turf, what is that? Steak and prawns? Whoever thought of that one was a genius.
Our ridiculous children's TV shows like Around the Twist, Lift Off, Heart Break High, The Ferals, Mulligrubs, and find something warm and fuzzy in a bush kangaroo and a talking koala.
And who put a disabled parking spot in front of a skate park?
Amongst the many contradictions, I think the one that takes the cake is Australia Day itself. Although it is a day for us to re-commit to our nation and aspire to making it an even better place for generations to come, the choice of date is bewildering.
It doesn’t include or represent a good day to all Australians; especially the original owners of the land.
January 26, 1788 was the date on which Captain Arthur Phillip took formal possession of the colony of New South Wales. This is a day of horror, for so many it represents the loss of their sovereign rights to their land, loss of family and loss of the right to practice their culture.
So however you chose to celebrate Australia Day, whether it’s slurping back cold ones by the pool, or playing cricket at a mates BBQ whilst listening to the top-100 tracks of the year on the wireless. Perhaps take a moment to acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners of the land on which we live and work.
To all creatures great and small - Happy Straya day!
