"On Australia Day we come together as a nation to celebrate what's great about Australia and being Australian. It's the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation. It's the day for us to re-commit to making Australia an even better place for the future."
from the Australia Day website
On 26 January 1788, well before our time, Captain Arthur Phillip, commander of the First Fleet of eleven convict ships that had sailed from England, arrived at Sydney Cove.
This is the significance of the date of Australia Day, but the tradition of celebrating Australia Day as a national holiday on 26 January is a fairly recent one. It was 1935 before all Australian states and territories used that name for the day, and it was 1994 before Australia Day was recognised consistently across the nation as a public holiday on that date*.
Personally, I've always felt somewhat conflicted about the choice of this date for a national day of celebration. While yes, it marks the beginnings of our modern nation...it also represents for the Indigenous population the day from which they watched with shock and bewilderment as an invading population forced them off their traditional lands, introduced fatal diseases, and changed their way of life forever.
However, in today's Australia I hope we can look at Australia Day as a day on which to reflect on the society we have become, to imagine the society we want to be and to learn from our past, both good and bad.
Practically, what does Australia Day mean to Australians?
It is a public holiday, and Australians love a day off! As it is celebrated on the day it falls, if it falls on a Tuesday or Thursday it generally means an increase in workplace absenteeism on the Monday or Friday to create a long-long weekend.
It's a day when citizenship ceremonies are held around the country, and 'Australian of the Year' awards are made in local communities.
In recent times, I've noticed an increasing trend to associate Australia Day with barbecues, (encouraged by some clever marketing by meat marketing boards).
For me, I've always seen it as a turning-point day: it marks the end of the summer holidays. Families return from their holidays, schools go back for a new year within days of Australia Day, workplaces swing back into high gear, school books are covered, uniforms are labelled, thongs are kicked off and proper shoes are back on feet.
Australia Day is the last hurrah of the laid back summer for those who take their annual leave then.
What does Australia Day mean to you? Do other countries celebrate similar days?
*see here for a full history of Australia Day
4 comments:
This morning I watched with pride as The Dof mounted the podium at our town Australia Day celebrations with 8 other citizens who had all been nominated for "Citizen of the Year" for services to our town. He did not win the award but his CV of voluntary work over the years was extensive.
At the same ceremony a little South African family who have settled in the area chose to become Australian citizens and their affirmation made everyone reflect on what Australia has done for all us migrants from all over the world.
Afterwards The Dof and I hosted a lunch for friends with BBQ lamb and pavlova dessert ( what else! ) and Anzac biscuits with coffee.
England has St. George's Day, Scotland has St. Andrew's Day, Wales has St. David's Day and Ireland has St. Patrick's Day but they're not such a big deal. They will be referred to slightly in the media, primary school classes usually do a school assembly on their particular one as they have to think of something and that's an easy given and there may be odd little bits and pieces round and about but there's certainly no national holidays – they're all on different days anyway. There are various religious days that are Bank Holidays and so effectively national holidays but not with any national theme. Such an idea has been mooted from time to time but not got any further. I guess we're all too independent for that!
Australia Day this year meant an Aussie BBQ complete with lamb chops, pavlova and a salad with macadamia nuts in it. The kids splashed in a friend's pool until early evening and then it was a mad rush at home while I found my son's school uniform, bag, cap and pencil case ready for the start of the school year.
For my workplace it meant that timesheets weren't approved for payroll to run on Monday afternoon due to the absenteeism you mentioned. And a lot of unapproved annual leave. A headache for HR and a payroll manager who probably didn't enjoy her Australia Day holiday.
Australia Day in our family mean's the husband's birthday.
As he gets to choose the way the day is spent, it usually involves a hanging around at home, usually outside, plus either a home cooked meal (birthday dinner of choice always roast lamb and a pav), or as was the case this year, a restaurant trip.
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