City of Launceston councillor wants to change Australia Day
THE EXAMINER - City of Launceston councillor wants to change Australia Day date (19 SEPTEMBER 2019)
As the councillor who brought the initial motion forward for Launceston City Council to no longer recognise or support events held on January 26, I am hopeful that today will be a new dawn in the relationship between Launceston and the Tasmanian Aboriginal community, and the start of a journey of true reconciliation.
There are many reasons I am proud to be an Australian.
However, the lack of any meaningful dialogue with the indigenous communities of this wide brown land is not one of those. Until respectful talk that accepts truth-telling, recognises an indigenous voice of and creates a treaty, as a nation we have nothing to celebrate. Marking January 26 as our national day will never create the inclusive society that the concept of Australia Day is meant to encompass.
A growing number of Australians agree that it is inappropriate, but in lieu of a federal government with the foresight to reset our relationship with our indigenous brothers and sisters, it is beholden upon councils to act in accordance with their core aim of an inclusive community. I am lucky to count members of Tasmania's palawa community as friends, and I'm appalled we continue celebrating a day synonymous with dispossession. That includes the City of Launceston council. It was always the first issue I wanted to address when I became a councillor.
Of course, some want to see it continue - to those I ask you to consider joining the process of change towards an inclusive and culturally aware society. Some argue this national day is gazetted by federal parliament - nothing to do with the council - in which case you would accept council should play no part in its celebration. Some question what date would replace it - to those I say when we have a treaty we will have a national day worth celebrating. Others say this is an attempt at rewriting history.
No one is denying what happened at Port Jackson on January 26, 1788, in fact, the opposite is true. We are beginning to acknowledge the truth around what that event signified to both European and Aboriginal Australia. We'll still have a national day (and a public holiday) once we move away from the jingoism surrounding January 26, but in acknowledging our 'country' has been settled for over 60 000 years, all Australians can join in becoming the mature and inclusive society we aspire to be.
By Tim Walker - City of Launceston councillor.
LINK: https://www.examiner.com.au/story/6393658/time-is-right-now-for-true-reconciliation/