What does Australia Day mean to us

I remember in year seven, we spent a whole term with our studies focussing on the word 'multiculturalism'. The word was hung up in big letters across across the classroom and it was exciting.

Now let me tell you a little about that class. It was not in a metropolitan area with a diverse culture of students represented. My class was situated over four hours west from Brisbane in the small country town of Goondiwindi. My school included a couple of girls who were of Chinese background, a handful of recent Africaan families and few Indigenous Australians who opted to not go to the mostly Indigenous school in the next town. The rest of us were white country kids. But even in the undiversified community of our classroom, we were celebrating multiculturalism throughout Australia because we knew we lived in a land that, since the English arrived on this soil, has always been culturally diverse.

Tomorrow is Australia Day, but it is also known as Invasion Day. To some it means it's a day of sorrow and for others it's a day to celebrate the English arriving here to create the white Australia. For others it's just a date to have a barbeque and listen to the radio. It's a date that has only been a public holiday since 1994. For those counting, that’s 23 years this year. I was four when we started celebrated this public holiday. The English arrived on this land over 200 years ago and we've been the country Australia for 117 years. Perhaps it's time to create a date that means more than sorrow, British settlement and a barbeque. Perhaps it's time to create a date we can all celebrate. Perhaps it's time to create a date that Indigenous Australians and everyone else who came here to call home can celebrate together. After all, why wouldn't we want the best for our country.

#AustraliaDay #InvasionDay #May8