Australia Day 2008

Today is the 26Th January and here in Australia we celebrate the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney, being fairly patriotic I used to be so proud of this day, but now I am not so proud as I find it hard to celebrate. As it  was also the beginning of such horrific times for our indigenous Australians.

I am ashamed to say I never really thought of it much, when I went to school it was never mentioned  or taught very much either.  As an adult the stolen generation was not something I thought about at all.  I think what brought it to mind was recently seeing a scene in the movie Australia where a mother and child hide in a water tower to escape the authorities,to try to stop her son being taken .The mother drowns at the end of this scene. I guess all those motherly feelings surface as I write this now thinking of  how I would feel if my children were taken from me.

  As a nation we have said sorry, we have also celebrated the amazing contribution that some of our Indigenous Australians have made to our society. Our Australian of the Year for 2009  ACT Indigenous Leader Professor Mick Dodson.

While I am not going to suggest we need to change a date,  I would however love to see us have a date where all Australians could celebrate and be proud of an incredible nation we have become. When you think of how we started we have come along way. I hope as we move forward we can strive for more peace and unity in this country.

God Bless