Green and Gold Face-Paint... Tick, Great Australian Music.... Tick, Rediculous amounts of meat.... Tick, Green and Gold house decorations.... Tick.
Australia Day is one of my favourite days of the year. I realise that almost every year there is some controversy about whether or not Australia Day should have its name changed to "Invasion Day" or simply move the National Public holiday to a different day, but to me the 26th of January is a really important day on the calendar.
After nearly 12 months abroad I have learnt a lot about what it means to be an Australian, and also given that I am regularly asked about Australian history, I have developed a much better knowledge of what has happened in the 224 years since colonisation. I cannot, and will not condone the atrocities which were committed against the indigenous population of this country and really feel like that as a society we still have a lot of work to do to ensure that there is true equality between the "white" population and the traditional owners of the continent.
That being said, I love Australia. I genuinely believe that the complete freedom of expression, generally high standard of living, and openness to each and every culture is something which is unique to our great country. Our history has some dreadful acts that have been condoned by previous governments, with "The Stolen Generation" being the most well known. There is nothing that any white Australian can say or do which will fix the broken families which were a result of government policy which was just inexcusably wrong.
I think that one of the most important and signifcant days in recent Australian history was the 12th of February 2008, when Kevin Rudd formally apologised to the stolen generation for the previous governmental policy and for the lives which were ruined.
I apologise for the delay between posts, as with all my other attempts at New Years resolutions, I appear to have failed after less than a month. Unfortunately, amongst work travel and trying to arrange my life to leave Chile by the end of this month I just haven't had time. Anyway.... enough of the excuses, next blog will hopefully be more timely!
I think that one of the most important and signifcant days in recent Australian history was the 12th of February 2008, when Kevin Rudd formally apologised to the stolen generation for the previous governmental policy and for the lives which were ruined.
Despite my views mentioned above, I don't feel that they preclude me from celebrating the multitude of great achievements and noteworthy events which have come about throughout our history. To mention a few: the discovery of penecilin as a medicine, the work done by Mary McKillop, Frank Fenner's contribution to the eradication of Smallpox, Barry Marshall's cure for Ulcers, Terence Tao's contribution to Mathematics. Can you imagine life without the Combine Harvester, the inflatable aircraft escape raft and slide, the electric drill, latex gloves, the roller door, the photocopier, refrigeration, the pacemaker, Internet Wifi or the bionic ear (with the bionic eye on its way). These discoveries and actions have improved and saved countless lives, and have played a very significant part in global development.
These things fill me with an immense feeling of pride and show that whilst we are a small population we have made and are continuing to make a global impact. These are the things which I celebrate on Australia day. I celebrate that we are a free, tolerant and unique nation and what it is we have achieved.
This Australia day for me was slightly different to previous years, although I at least tried to keep the general theme of the celebrations as I would have if I was in the Great Southern Land. Obviously it was not a public holiday here and so the post work celebrations kicked off with some of my Chilean mates arriving unusually punctually and the music starting. Great Aussie hits like "What About Me?", "Khe Sahn", "My Island Home", "I Still Call Australia Home", "I Come From a Land Down Under", "Back in Black" etc started to be belted out over a few beers, prior to the last 20 songs of the Hottest 100 were put on to countdown. A short while later, the meat went on the BBQ and the smokey aroma of Steak and Snags quickly permeated the apartment and quickly, delicious sausage sangas were being eaten.
I actually thought that I would really miss not spending Australia Day in Australia, but it was a real pleasure to share some of the things which I feel are important on Australia Day with my Chilean friends. It was a great night, and the fact that the Aussie's got up in the cricket made it even better. The apartment is still graced by the presence of the Green and Gold Balloons, and provided they don't become too limp before I leave I can see them being the last item taken down before I return down under.
