There is really not much to say about Australia Day. Few people know exactly what it commemorates. Fewer would mind if it were moved, say, to a less holiday-rich time of the year; no one takes it seriously as an event, but everyone enjoys a day off work. And anyone who follows politics in January grows tired of politicians trying to reap electoral hay from the day with their pontificators and binders.
So rather than talk about the Australia Day that we have, let us reflect on what a good and engaging Australia Day might look like. In the first place, it would be a celebration, politician-free and corporation-free. Lots of local events, parades, barbies, parties, beach cricket, boules and volley ball games, exhibitions, skits, gigs, festivals and good conversations. None of them would bear a sponsor's name or badge; all would open with an acknowledgment of the traditional owners of land.
A good Australia Day would also be inclusive, encouraging each national community of origin, religious, political, and social group to open to others the gift of heritage that they make to Australia. The streets would be lined with stalls offering pie floaters, pasta, hallal and kosher meats, empanadas, fish chowder, boko-boko, rice, chicken korma, falafel wraps, noodles, pupusas, roti, risotto, kimchi, octopus curry, pork pies, bat soup and vegemite sandwiches.
And for sweets, of course pavlovas would be at hand with croissants, baklava, gelato, Anzac biscuits, banana sticky rice, Turkish delight and crostoli. And barristas would rove up and down the streets boasting beans borne from such fabled sources as Lilliput Valley and Brobdingnag Bluffs.
The sound of the didgeridoo would be heard throughout the land. On each street corners buskers would mark out their patch, playing violins, oud, piano accordion, berimbau, ukelele, cláirseach, nyatiti, cello, mouth organ, zither, anklung, daduk, grand piano or recorder singing the love songs and epic poems from the many civilisations that have enriched Australia.
Citizenship ceremonies would be held in municipal parks, attracting new citizens, families and well wishers. On participants' heads will be seen top hats, akoubras, hijab, baseball caps, turbans, yamakas, dreadlocks and shaved pates.
They would come dressed in suits and ties, kimonos, saris, beads and shawls, board shorts and t-shirts, knickerbockers, gakti, and crinolines. On those whose feet were shod would be lace-up shoes, clogs, boots, sandals, mukluk, runners, Ugg boots, slippers and thongs. During the ceremonies, in return for the gift that they and their heritage bring to Australia, the new citizens would receive an Australian shrub to plant and nurture.
"It would highlight the catastrophic effects on the first Australians of colonial invasion through imported illnesses, war and dispossession, and the struggles of their descendants for recognition and justice."
Australia Day would also allow people to hear of the events and people who made Australia, especially the stories of the people who have lent their names to local streets and towns, and the back stories of all the national groups who have made and sought a home in Australia.
It would highlight the catastrophic effects on the first Australians of colonial invasion through imported illnesses, war and dispossession, and the struggles of their descendants for recognition and justice. It would tell of the place of religious faith, ethnic background and of inherited wealth both in connecting and dividing people. It would honour the courage of people forced from their homes by war and poverty, who built a new life in Australia and contributed to Australian prosperity. It would include both the welcome they found in Australia and the prejudice and exclusion that they experienced at the hands of earlier arrivals and of governments. The telling of Australian history would be set within world history.
The day would also focus on great Australians — great in their humanity, their diversity, and in the gift they have been to the nation. They might include such groups as the Afghan camel drivers and Chinese market gardeners, and such individuals as William Barak, Mary Mackillop, Matthew Flinders, Weary Dunlop, Mary Gilmore, Mum Shirl and John Curtin.
Finally, of course, a good Australia Day would also need to find a place in the calendar suitable for bringing people together in celebration. Clearly the anniversary of European settlement and the beginnings of dispossession of the First Australians would not do. Its selection for Australia Day would be as partisan as it would be for a future united Ireland to tie its national day to the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne or of the Easter Uprising.
Perhaps the most appropriate date would be one on which nothing much had ever happened. The great good fortune of Australia since the initial invasion is to have been spared the wars, famines, civil strife and persecutions that have shaped the national days of other lands. A quiet day marked only by domestic histories would be suitable for exuberant celebration and honest reflection.
Andrew Hamilton is consulting editor of Eureka Street.