Invasion Day?

It's Australia day tomorrow, at least from where I'm sitting in Avignon. If you're back home the dawn will be breaking over our national holiday in a few short hours. Given it's a saturday I'd guess that a lot of people will miss that dawn and wake late feeling a little hungover and ready to do it all again in the name of national pride.

On Facebook I see a lot of friends planning and prepping for a big day around the bbq, at the beach, in the sun or wherever there is a flowing supply of beer. On Twitter it's a little different as I listen to a lot of people speculating over the meaning of our national day. Some tweets wonder out loud about how respectful it is to drape a flag across your shoulders and then proceed to get stinking drunk. Others openly deplore the gronks who use the day to spew racism at anyone who doesn't fit their (white) image of Australian. Many invoke the new name adopted for the day several years ago... 'Invasion Day'

My absolute favourites make clever use of the current debate over the treatment and fate of asylum seekers arriving by boat. They remind us that Australia's foundation myth involves people arriving by boat to a land that wasn't theirs, that these people did not have respect and assimilation on their minds when they met the locals and they continued to arrive as economic migrants because the 'lucky country' just seemed so damn good. Check out Bloody Boat People! for one of the best...

The term 'Invasion Day' hits a sensitive point with a lot of Australians. They see it as demeaning and disrespecting the fabulous country that Australia is today. They drag out another controversial term in 'black armband history' to deflect the argument. Now I hate it when people try to deflect or shut down an argument rather than face it (Rightzblock - I have a Right to my Opinion!), better to unpack all the discomfort and get it out there.

Shakespeare gave us "I think the lady doth protest too much" and he meant that when someone's shouting and kicking up a storm about something their motive may be a guilty conscience. No Australian alive today was present when the First Fleet from England arrived and began the takeover, but that doesn't mean that we don't today enjoy the spoils of what they achieved that day. If you don't like the term 'invasion day' perhaps you need to think about why you have this reaction, as well as why some people think it's an appropriate term.

Usually when two nations meet over a disputed territory they negotiate a treaty to settle the land. At present no treaty with Australia's first people exists. The Mabo decision granted limited land rights to some indigenous Australians, but this is not available to all. We apologised to the stolen generation in 2008 but that doesn't mean that the trauma of families torn apart disappears. Hell, we don't even recognise Indigenous Australia's in our constitution! - check out You, Me Unity

I think these are the reasons many people consider the 26th of January as 'Invasion Day' and if you're not comfortable for that term to sit alongside 'Australia Day', ask yourself why?