Invasion Day

With the urgency we have now to not only represent our First Nations and peoples but for the Australian nation holistically, it’s time to #ChangeTheNation our way. If Australia is genuine about listening to Indigenous voices then the power imbalance has to shift urgently

In the absence of government leadership, our grieving families and communities are leading the way to change the nation.

I can’t help but find hope in the history of this land. It has seen destruction before. And survived. Over and over again. First Nations people have watched this land change, over tens of thousands of years. And they have adapted with it, both genetically and culturally.

It is evident that Australia has no shortage of black expertise and leaders. What Australia does lack is the ability to centre these voices and leaders where we need them the most; in our policies, education, health and legal systems. Changing the date will not achieve anything while the nation itself is what needs to change.

Almost certainly there are more important issues effecting Indigenous people than the celebrations on January 26 but that is entirely not the point.

The 26th of January is indeed a historic day of significance for the Australian community. The events that took place on that day helped shape modern Australia and continue to have a profound impact of the lives of millions.

The onus is no longer on Indigenous Australia. We are awake, we are alive, we are still here.

It is customary amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to introduce oneself by identifying their family and country.

Despite what our name suggests, the Wild Black Women welcome in the new year with the same optimism of Karen from HR extolling her ‘new year new me’ resolutions.

January 26 represents the day colonisation took root on Koori lands.

This country loves listening to the didgeridoo while we dance for them, it enjoys hanging our dot paintings down their hallways and in their boardrooms, and they feel so humbled to allow us the honour of Welcoming them to our Countries, but there is a quick and sudden line drawn in the sand of what will be tolerated when we decide to utilise a voice we have earned, and fought hard for, to question the country they believe we should be so grateful for.

We cannot mature as a country if we do not acknowledge this damage and the responsibility of the nation to implement reform that encompasses restitution.

An Aboriginal flag engulfs a large stone, twine securing it in place, that lays beneath a fishing pontoon, at the bottom of the sea.

We don’t need to change the date. We need to #changethenation.

You want a day to celebrate Australia. I want an Australia that’s worth celebrating.

Hey ancestor, you talking to me? Country time everyday. I know, I know, but wouldn’t you know it, it’s the 26th of January again, old Whitefella Day. Party time for some, sad day for others.

We cannot seek an end to the oppression of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people by cajoling the broad majority of Australians with soft entreaties of ‘change the date’. As rightly pointed out by many, changing the date of Australia Day – without the achievement of social justice or legal restitution in the form of Land Rights and Treaty – only moves the celebration of unfinished business to another date.

Recently, a wonderful story hashtag-restored my faith in Australia’s mainstream media. For once it was talking somewhat positively about the homeless Indigenous people of Darwin.