Why some Australians want to move their controversial national day

(CNN)Australia’s national day, held on January 26 every year, isn’t all beer and barbeques.

While many see it as a day to celebrate the Australian lifestyle, for others it’s a painful reminder of death, disease, and cultures now lost forever.

Australia Day marks the arrival of the First Fleet into Sydney Cove in 1788, a date which is mourned by many indigenous people.

“We see it as Invasion Day,” Warren Mundine, chairman of the Australian Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council, told CNN.

Tens of thousands of indigenous people were killed during the colonization of Australia, both deliberately and through disease and starvation. The British considered the continent to be “terra nullius” or “nobody’s land,” despite the estimated 750,000 to 1 million indigenous people living there at the time.

“The 26th of January is the day that the British came to invade, which led to massacres, the loss of land and the destruction of Aboriginal societies,” Mundine said.

“We see that as a bad date and we’d like to see another day selected.”

Several celebrities have come out in favor of the change, and the hashtag #ChangeTheDate has gained traction on social media.

The West Australian city of Fremantle even decided in 2017 to move their celebratory fireworks to January 28, two days after Australia Day.

But it isn’t a simple debate — Tom Calma, co-chairman of NGO Reconciliation Australia, said it would be better to educate young Australians about both the good and bad aspects of January 26, rather than choose another date.

“There’s a place for recognizing that we have been dispossessed but having an alternate day isn’t going to change that,” he said.

“Maybe the argument is we change the meaning of the 26th of January to one that is more inclusive and people can get engaged with, celebrating Australia as a continent, as an entity in itself.”

Deputy Australian Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce told the ABC people anyone who wanted to move the date were “miserable, gutted people.”

“I wish they would crawl under a rock and hide for a little bit,” he said.

Despite growing support for the idea, Bongiorno doesn’t think it will happen anytime soon.

“I can’t see it disappearing or being moved or anything along those lines. Australia doesn’t have an obvious founding moment,” he said.

“I suspect the 26th of January will survive and you know, the debate and criticism around it, I see that as part of a healthy democracy.”

source http://allofbeer.com/why-some-australians-want-to-move-their-controversial-national-day/