To What Extent Should We Change Australia's Date Essay

200 years is enough time to forgive. Wake up, everyone! We know the British came and stole Aboriginal landing, that was a huge crime but now our war ended, we live in our country named Australia and we are Australians, Australia Day is one of our tradition, Aboriginal’s failure won’t change despite we change the day. I am Lake, a Aborigine living and contributing for Australia and I will sorry to Melbourne citizens, especially who want to change the day that i honestly disagree.

The Australian flag was chosen in 1901, when a competition was held to design our country's flag. The guidelines of this competition included that the Union Jack and Southern Cross should appear on the flag. However, I believe that in the year 2001, the Australian flag needs to be changed. During the course of this essay, I will show that the Australian flag does not represent all Australians, in particular, Aboriginal Australians and that the symbols on our flag are no longer relevant and are not unique to Australia. I will also show that the present flag is not instantly recognisable and is too similar to flags of other countries.

With Australia Day associated to celebrating genocide and the destruction of the Aboriginal culture, the government must consider altering the date of Australia Day out of respect for the Aboriginal People and to further assimilation between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians, which in contrast to genocide, is something truly worth celebrating.

Australia day a day that marks a horrific anniversary for Indigenous Australian’s it is commonly known as Invasion day. Invasion day is the day that everything changed no longer were the indigenous people to live in peaceful family groups. Their peace and harmony was to be destroyed by European ideals. Invasion day or Survival day marked the beginning of years of struggle and loss for the indigenous people a battle that they still fight today. Colonization was a cultural wrecking ball when it came to the Australian indigenous and it began on Invasion

The pursuit for a national day has been a part of an effort to define our unique national identity and a day that defines it. Australia Day is a subject of debate, reflecting the fact that national identity is unsolidified and difficult to delineate. In this essay I will outline the argument that Australia’s national day should reflect both its present day society and history, with the help of articles from ‘The Conversation’, ’Modern Australia’s defining moment came long after the First Fleet’ and ‘Australia Day nationalism walks in the footsteps of ugly precedents.’ Australia day should be completely unrelated to British colonialism and its catastrophic impacts on Aboriginal people and their culture and encompass the multicultural society it is today. More significantly however, it should quite simply be a day that has significant historical relevance for present day

I would like to begin this speech by recognising the owners of this land, the true ancestors of the country we call ‘ours’. To the Indigenous peoples of Australia, I acknowledge you, I thank you and most of all I apologise to you for the deep suffering and remorse you are put through. I am ashamed of this country’s treatment towards you. Past and Present.

Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.

26th of January is celebrated around Australia, every year with millions of Australians enjoying barbeques at the beach, park or in your backyard to commemorate the landing of the first fleet in 1788 and establishing Australia’s history. However, does this day provide a unifying force for all Australians, Australians such as indigenous and migrants who did not have equal rights approximately 100 years ago. This essay will analyse the significance of the date of Australia day. It will further investigate why it has been subjected to terms such as invasion and survival day. In an attempt to navigate if Australia day is a unifying force for all Australians, I will first examine the date of Australia day and discuss the importance for all Australians. Identifying the impact it has had on Australians to be celebrated, for over 300 years since the first fleet. Finally, I will observe why this day is known as invasion and survival days to other Australians, which Australians observe that this day is an invasion day and should this day change to another date, which does not hold the same significance as 26th of January.

In the media that has been recently sparked, many have said about choosing not to celebrate this race-based event, where one race is dispossessed to the benefit of another. This is an important step towards healing, reconciliation, building a respectful and inclusive nation. The main contention in this topic is that our Australian society should memorialize the Indigenous people who sacrificed their life for freedom. There are many articles that support this sparked issue. The author in each article attempts to persuade that Australia Day should be changed to another date.

Australia day, the national holiday where the Europeans took the land from the aboriginals and hundreds of deaths took place, what a great thing to celebrate! For years now, aboriginals have protested to change Australia days' date, the 26th of January, because of the true significance behind it. It is commonly suggested that the 1st of January should be Australia day as it is the federation of Australia. The date is not a thing to be celebrated as it is the day where families were killed, homes were stolen and it does not celebrate Australia as a whole, because of this, Australia day must be changed. To Aboriginals, Australia day is known as, 'Day of Mourning' or 'Survival day', as it marks the dispossession, theft, slaughter, disease and death of their people.

Moore intensely advocates for the permanent date of a national event, Australia Day represented on the 26th of January to remain consistent. Despite contrasting opinions, the writer energetically argues that the significant day of the month 'shaped and formed' this nation, the home that we Australians reside in due to the 1788 First Fleet. Continuing, the author goes on to state that the date does not represent or define a takeover from Indigenous owners of the land to privileged men, but to be recognised as a historical event that molded the Australian culture and

On the 25th of April a day of remembrance occurs for all Australian Citizens to pay their respects to the Veterans who fought ‘our’ war to make Australia as it is today (Civics and Citizenship Education, 2013) . Even in a modern day society the Anzac legend has made such a big impact that it is still celebrated each year (Skwirk education, 2014). An ex- Prime Minister Julia Gillard made a comment on Anzac day about the importance of Anzac day -"When you can see that kind of enthusiasm, I think we can say as a nation it's an important part of our national identity"- (Beaumont, 2015). It is stated from Civics and citizenship education that there is an increase in the amount of people participation in the ceremonies. The Anzac legend has been implemented into the Australian identity so much that some believe that Anzac is what it means to be Australian, from this we can gather the significance and the positive view on the Anzac legend (Beaumont, 2015). This shows that the modern appreciation of what the Anzac’s did During WW1 hasn't depreciated a

Throughout the 20th Century Indigenous Australians rights have been detrimentally and unjustly affected by the frequent changing of governmental policies. This has been evidenced throughout the history of Australia, starting as early as the beginning of colonisation, to current time. In this time, Indigenous Australians have been forced from the land that they not only have used to sustain their physical needs, but is significant to their spiritual beliefs and Dreamtime. During the course of Australia’s shared history, there has been many different periods greatly dependant on the Government at the time and their beliefs when it come to the rights of the Indigenous people, discussed in this essay are the, Protection Policy, Assimilation Policy,

On this week’s issue of “Historians Weekly” we’re finally going to be starting up our new and anticipated series “Policies of Aboriginal Australia”. To start us off I will be looking at the policy of protectionism and why it was replaced by the policy of Assimilation.

Within the visuals associated with Smith’s article lots of different people of all different races, dressed in Australian colours are collaged together to form the shape of Australia. This adds to the appeal to patriotism as it shows that all Australian’s no matter their race, gender, age, social status etc. have a right to celebrate on Australia Day in their own ways. This coincides with Smith’s contention being that Australia has such a diverse and multi-cultural background that everyone has the right to enjoy Australia Day. Such technique positions the reader to feel proud of the “unity” and togetherness their country has in celebrating Australia Day.