Survival Day, A Day of Morning, Invasion Day; there are a couple of names for it and the one that I won’t abide by is ‘Australia Day’. This post is more of a discussion on the topic and not to be taken at all as ‘academic writing’. At the end of the day, you’ll form your own opinions. Just make sure you educate yourself fairly, we live in the world where knowledge is power and those in powerful positions are who decide what knowledge is important.

Today, I write from Meanjin, land never ceded. I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land upon which I live, work and write, the Turrbal and Yuggera people, and pay my respects to elders, past, present and emerging.

In this blog post, the use of “white people” will be used as a general reference to those who are not of Indigenous Australian descent, but will also exclude individuals that are people of colour. “White people” does not solely refer to skin pigment, as colour does not denounce Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage. Writing “white, privileged, ignorant and oppressive people” is too long, and the perpetuation of racism in Australia is not solely the responsibility of those types of people. Which is something that people don’t really think about. I am of Polynesian descent, though I do not consider myself a racist and in no way condone racism, it’s possible that I possess behaviour I have that is not helping battle these systems of racism; the sins of a bystander. That is why we need to educate ourselves and be quicker to learn, rather than quicker to argue, when people accuse us of racism. As a Polynesian, particularly as a light-skinned Polynesian due to my other ethnicities, I am absolutely still capable of racism.

There is a significant amount of history in this country that people like to ignore. Indigenous Australians have managed this land for at least 80,000 years. “White people” (referring to European settlers, as well as descendants who not of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent) have been living in this country for about 250, that’s 0.31% of the time Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have bled and birthed into the soil. 0.31% and yet, somehow, the other 99.69% is not important enough to warrant education on, and is often even denied existence. Of the 0.31% of time that “white people” have chosen to emphasise “white achievements” (which include the murder, rape and destruction of Indigenous Australian peoples and culture) and omit the suffering and ongoing devastation to First Nations People, saying that it’s “in the past” and that everyone “needs to get over it”. White Australia wants to remember the day the ships arrived on the shores of Eastern Australia, starting the onslaught of Indigenous Australians, and yet wants to forget that the government was still stealing Aboriginal children about forty years ago.

In all honesty, people who say that the debate around January 26th is a waste of time disgust me. The inability to even consider it just speaks to the levels of systemic racism in Australia. It is 2021 and out “Prime Minister” continues to make outlandish and ignorant comments that diminish the realities of Indigenous Australians in front of the entire nation. When people take these comments, and even the lack of approach to the debate, at face value, we are left with a nation that predominantly agrees with a culture designed to continue choking minorities.

Look for information where it’s from, not where you think it should be coming from. If you want to know what the debate about the date is, don’t just look to the testament of white people just because they manage most of the media. Do your due diligence. NITV, Clothing the Gap, ABC Indigenous, NAIDOC, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (AIATSI) and so many others, not yet including individuals who you should be following and listening to. There is no excuse for not knowing “both sides of the story” (there really is only one to be honest). Australia is a country where our complacency in regards to racism, particularly towards First Nations People, are why we have prominent politicians able to make outlandish and downright racist comments freely, still able to wake up the next day safe in their powerful positions.

This is also not to say that the support of people not of colour is not important, and what they have to say is not important, it’s just that they should not overshadow the voice of Indigenous Australians. Support is growing, and you’ll find that many people are calling for Change the Date. Those who refuse to have the debate either don’t want to acknowledge the reality of Indigenous Australians or don’t know, because ultimately they can’t be bothered. I can’t even look at the Australian flag properly anymore. It’s not my flag. It doesn’t represent me, and it doesn’t represent the diversity of Australia.

If you don’t go to the protests and the marches, at least take some time to check out what happened there : NITV News Day 26.

If you are Australian and are not Indigenous Australian and think the Change the Date is a load of nonsense, take a moment to think about it. Imagine, that maybe in a few years, another country invades Australia. They have superior weapons and come with what they think is superior knowledge. They rip up important places to Australians, take our children and rape both the people and the land. Our homes are taken and we are put together in missions where we learn only how to serve these other people. And now, every year, they celebrate the day they came to our shores. They tell us to be grateful for the date, that their murder and stealing should be forgotten, despite their unwillingness to compromise the date. Every year, on the anniversary of when they came and took everything away, they throw parties and celebrate the union they have across the country … People want to deny the need for Change the Date and then also want to criticise immigrants and refugees. Weren’t the people aboard the convict ships just looking for a new place to call home as well?

If you didn’t catch that in the last line there, I was being sarcastic.

Be part of the change.