Freo To Mark Australia Day Two Days Later

[icyfroth]

Australia Day next year will come two days late for one West Australian council.

The City of Fremantle has decided to move its traditional January 26 events to January 28 because of cultural sensitivities.

The council will celebrate One Day in Fremantle on January 28, with musicians such as John Butler, Dan Sultan and Mama Kin.

The council describes the event as "an opportunity for all Australians to come together and celebrate the multicultural diversity of our country".

Mayor Brad Pettitt said the council was not opposed to celebrations on January 26, but was offering an opportunity for all Australians to come together on another day.

Dr Pettitt said the council had heard "loud and clear" from local Aboriginal elders that it was not a day to celebrate.

Australia Day marks the arrival of the First Fleet of ships from Britain in NSW on January 26, 1788.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told 3AW radio in Melbourne there was obviously some controversy about the date, as there was about most things, and to "stick with Australia Day on the 26th".

Former West Australian of the Year and former head of the Australia Day Council WA Robert Isaacs said it was divisive and concerning that a council was behaving contrary to what reconciliation was all about.

"Everyone around Australia has the opportunity to bring this nation together. Forget about the past and look at the good things," he told 6PR radio.

Local Fremantle business owner Jean Carlos Bello told AAP the move was "absolutely" sensitive to indigenous people.

There will still be a fireworks display on January 26 in Fremantle, but it will be funded by the Fishing Boat Harbour Traders Group and the Fremantle Business Improvement District.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/wa-council-moves-australia-day-to-jan-28/news-story/b...

Well there ya go. I could understand if it was Sydney,  or Botany Bay, where the actual First Fleet actually landed.

But  Fremantle WA?

Admittedly WA was the last state to admit convicts, but it was never a place that the 26th of January 1788 would have any significance to.

[the_great_she_elephant]

Mr Hawke, who is writing to the council today, said citizenship ceremonies should be “non commercial, apolitical, bipartisan and secular”.

So how does holding them on a day other than Australia Day make them any of those things?

Fremantle Council says it holds Citizenship ceremonies four times a year and I'm sure most large councils have similar arrangements.  Are the ones held on Australia Day somehow more valid and meaningful than the others?

[languidlady49]

totally agree with womble, since Brad Pettit has been mayor Fremantle has changed from a major shopping hub and tourist destination into a ghost town with many social problems.

[chameleon54]

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@village_person wrote:

It is interesting that aborigines aren't keen to celebrate their 'invasion day' all those years ago.

ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIANS ARE descendents of the first people to leave Africa up to 75,000 years ago, a genetic study has found, confirming they may have the oldest continuous culture on the planet.

Professor Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen, who led the study, says Aboriginal Australians were the first modern humans to traverse unknown territory in Asia and Australia. "It was a truly amazing journey that must have demanded exceptional survival skills and bravery," he says.

A century-old lock of hair, given by a West Australian indigenous man to an anthropologist, has led to the discovery that ancestors of Aboriginal Australians reached Asia at least 24,000 years before another wave of migration that populated Europe and Asia.

Experts from the University of Western Australia (UWA) and Murdoch University were part of an international team that analysed DNA from the hair, and found no hereditary material from European immigrants to Australia. This made the man's DNA a perfect candidate for looking at the history of Aboriginal migration.

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2011/09/dna-confirms-aboriginal-culture-one-of-earths-ol...

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Yeah, OK I get that. But how much longer are we supposed to feel guilty about something that happened over 200 years ago when none of us where here ? Colonisation happened regularly throughout history. Nations rise and fall.

Due to our historical migration policies the majority of Australians decendents come from places other than Great Britain, so have no links to the English arrival. Why should we feel guilty and hang our heads in shame about something the poms did centuries ago. Sure it needs to be recognised as part of our history, but that's all it is , ancient history.

Eventually people have to accept that colonisation occurred and move on or spend their lives getting churned up over something they can never change. 

Personally I think that aboriginal leaders who continue to concentrate on and shout about the past, rather than look to the future are holding their own people back. Colonisation and the terrible treatment of indigenous Australians following that event is well documented, accepted and understood by most Australians. Its not like its some grubby little secret we try to hide. We acknowledge it, but we cant change it.

Australia day should be a time to move forward and celebrate this wonderful country. Indigenous Australians can take immense pride in their history and heritage, but they need to move forward into a modern world or get left behind as outcasts of a modern society. If they chose to continually look back 200 years, rather than embrace change and look forward, they will be the ones who will suffer.

[the_great_she_elephant]

Australia day should be a time to move forward and celebrate this wonderful country. Indigenous Australians can take immense pride in their history and heritage, but they need to move forward into a modern world or get left behind as outcasts of a modern society. If they chose to continually look back 200 years, rather than embrace change and look forward, they will be the ones who will suffer.

Maybe they'd find it easier to move forward if our National Day didn't commemorate the day that history and heritage was trampled underfoot. 

[icyfroth]

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@the_great_she_elephant wrote:

Australia day should be a time to move forward and celebrate this wonderful country. Indigenous Australians can take immense pride in their history and heritage, but they need to move forward into a modern world or get left behind as outcasts of a modern society. If they chose to continually look back 200 years, rather than embrace change and look forward, they will be the ones who will suffer.

Maybe they'd find it easier to move forward if our National Day didn't commemorate the day that history and heritage was trampled underfoot. 

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So how is celebrating it 2 days later going to make them feel better?

The way the whole of Australia is moving forward, I'd be very surprised if the 26th Jan held any meaning at all to Aussies of future generations. 

[chameleon54]

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@the_great_she_elephant wrote:

Australia day should be a time to move forward and celebrate this wonderful country. Indigenous Australians can take immense pride in their history and heritage, but they need to move forward into a modern world or get left behind as outcasts of a modern society. If they chose to continually look back 200 years, rather than embrace change and look forward, they will be the ones who will suffer.

Maybe they'd find it easier to move forward if our National Day didn't commemorate the day that history and heritage was trampled underfoot. 

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I can understand where you are coming from she el, but the landing of Cook and his fleet on Australian soil is THE MOST significant day in Australia's history.

Europeans had been visiting Australia since the 1600,s, but none with the sole intention and means to colonise. This was the day when an ancient, semi nomadic, tribal system that had remained virtually the same for 40,000 years changed forever, with European settlement sowing the seeds for Australia to become a modern, industrialised, first world nation.

If the British had not colonised the place, the French or Dutch would have. Aborigines would have to come to terms with an industrialised and modern society, regardless of which country brought it to Australia.

I think an important question is not just when we celebrate Australia day, but HOW we mark the occasion. Who says Australia day is just about having a great big p!$$ up, celebratory party. It can also be a time to reflect on our past history, warts and all, a time to respect aboriginal heritage and tradition. This could incorporate similar sentiments to Anzac day where we pay respect to the diggers that sacrificed their lives in war, but also celebrate the freedoms this sacrifice gives us.

At the same time we can celebrate the success of Australia as a wealthy, prosperous nation that provides for all its citizens. ( sure we can argue whether enough is done, but that's a whole different thread topic ) With virtually all of us descending from other nationalities, we could celebrate our diverse multicultural history and look to a united future with optimism, instead of looking to the past with misplaced hate, shame and guilt.

Frankly I didn't do it,  my parents didn't do it, and my grandparents who had early contact with traditional, native aborigines in their remote farming communities didn't do it. ( social oppression of Aborigines ) I don't feel any shame or guilt for mistakes of the past. I just respect that it was an unfortunate part in our nations history...... It happens. ( just ask the Japanese and Germans ).  Its time to respect the past, but to move on and look forward to a positive future.

[the_great_she_elephant]

I can understand where you are coming from she el, but the landing of Cook and his fleet on Australian soil is THE MOST significant day in Australia's history.

Itwasn't  Cook. He landed in Botany Bay in 1777. It was Philip with his boatloads of convicted criminals who landed on 24th January 1788. It was actually 2 French boats who arrived on the 26th.

http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibition/objectsthroughtime-history/ott1788. 

And while I agree that, for the Aboriginal inhabitants of Australia the arrival of the First fFeet was and is probably the most signifiant event in their entire history, it is not a significance I would want to celebrate if I were indigenous.

[springyzone]

The plan is plain stupidity.

Australia Day, whether it is commemorated on the 26th or 28th, is still recalling the arrival of the first fleet and the establishment of the first official white settlement.

I can understand that to aborigines, it may not be a day of celebration.

However, it is part of our history.

The truth is Australia as a nation did not exist under the aborigines. It didn't really come into being in 1788 either but it was certainly the start of modern Australia.

There is no need for anyone to be ashamed of our history. That's not to say that bad things didn't happen-they happen in every country- but we have a very interesting history and overall should be proud of what our nation has become, against some harsh odds.

It isn't perfect but we're in a mostly peaceful, mostly law abiding, mostly prosperous country & we should be grateful.