What does Australia Day mean for you?

What does Australia Day mean for you?

For me - it reminds me of fishing and beaches and the sun and all sorts of good things. I remember BBQs with friends and families. As a child, in 1988 I remember watching the 200 year anniversary first fleet arrive as a re-enactment of the first fleet arriving in Australia. It was pretty amazing.

Yet - to many in our community - Australia Day is a day of immense grief and mourning. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples share a variety of attitudes towards Australia Day, few are unreservedly positive about the day.

Noel Pearson once suggested that the 25th might be a day all of us as a nation could lament European Colonisation, followed by giving thanks for Australia on the 26th itself. He thinks this could celebrate the land and nation and the achievements of the original indigenous inhabitants, the British colonial settlers, and the wide variety of immigrants since, along with the descendants of all these people.

The outstanding Aboriginal Australian leader, Williams Cooper called for the Sunday before Australia Day to be a Day of Mourning and of prayer for Aboriginal ‘upliftment’ and the spread of the gospel among his people. This is what we did last Sunday, as we both lamented and gave thanks to God for our past.

As I've grown up, I've become more aware of the history of European Settlement in Australia, and the horrendous consequences it brought to our First Nations' brothers and sister.

And this means I can no longer celebrate Australia with unrestrained joy.

How did you celebrate Australia Day?

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday as we keep learning from God's word. This week our new student minister Tommy will be teaching us from Luke 20:41-47 where Jesus now starts to ask the Religious Leaders some difficult questions!

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Mike Doyle