January 26 is Australia Day, or Invasion Day as the Aboriginies call it, when the first fleet landed in Botany Bay in 1788. The natives have a point. Is it right that we celebrate a day when one culture turned up and began to annihalate another?
It’s not as if we think about history on this day. We focus more on the present – recognising Australians who’ve made major contributions to our country and the world, enjoying the strong summer sun and celebrating all that this harsh country has given us. It’s also the day of the Hottest 100, run by the national alternative radio station 2JJJ. All around the country, people gather at parties to listen to the nation’s favourite songs counted down. Our friends gathered at the house I’m staying in for a BBQ and a swim, while listening to 2006 reviewed through music.
What link does this really have to the day white people first arrived en masse at our shores? Might we not be better celebrating the day that our constitution was signed, creating a (mostly) autonomous Australia? But the Aboriginies wouldn’t find much to celebrate in that either. And on January 1st, it’s too close to the New Year for a Hottest 100 to be compiled.