Australia Day and its approaching national holiday weekend will see a new Australian of the Year recipient announced by the Prime Minister, along with Senior Australian, Junior Australian, and Local Hero of Australia awards.
Closer to home regional and local Australia Day Awards will be featured by our council to recognize and celebrate a range of local community contributors.
For all this Australia Day has in recent years been questioned as a day of celebration. Federal, state and some councils have been ambivalent, tending to side with minority groups’ sentiments around the debate.
This is not just a rejection of the date but a lack of recognition of what has been achieved by this relatively young country, a foundation from which set a course based on colonisation, but with democracy and the rule of law, and shaped by immigration and opportunity.
Some councils have sought compensation from the federal government for citizenship ceremonies, citing extreme heat and irregular working hours as justification, prompting the Opposition leader to come up with a plan to make the ceremonies mandatory.
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While the date of Australia Day January 26 continues to be debated, the question of citizenship ceremonies on the day can be separated from the issue of whether it is the best date to recognize our nationhood.
For those councils who continue the long-standing tradition of awarding citizenship on Australia Day, it marks a recognition and respect for our national ceremonies.
As with the indigenously inspired Welcome to Country, our new countrymen and women who have chosen to embrace Australia by becoming citizens, are welcomed, and embraced into an increasingly multicultural country.
A recent survey by the Institute of Public Affairs has shown that 69 per cent of Australians say Australia Day should be celebrated on January 26, which is up from 63 per cent 12 months ago; a majority of age groups also support the day.
Of the world’s approximate 200 countries, only a few do not have a national day; many have undergone tortuous journeys of war and revolution in their national days becoming integral to their culture.
Without denying the special place for our Indigenous First Peoples, their culture and future wellbeing, Australia’s national day whatever the date, needs to be more collectively celebrated for the country’s cultural, geographical and historical threads and achievements, that offers common values and a future worth preserving and living.
