It’s probably not safe but it feels great. Brydie and I have somehow managed to jam a foot each onto her scooter and are hurtling down the path beside the ocean, chatting about the reasons why we won’t be flying an Australian flag outside our caravan tomorrow.
“It’s a bit sad,” I tell her, dodging pedestrians, dogs and really big bits of bark. “But these days I just have mixed feelings about the Australian flag and what people are saying when they use it. Australia Day just isn’t my favourite celebration anymore. ”
I’m not sure if Brydie really wants to know or whether she’s just keen for me to stay beside her, wind whipping her hair, but she requests an unpack of the whole thing. And gets one.
It’s good on Australia Day that we recognise the achievements of citizens including people who make discoveries or serve the community. It’s good to celebrate people who become Australian citizens and it’s good to be proud of what we’ve achieved as a nation.
It’s insensitive that for many indigenous people, Jan 26 represents the moment their country was violently taken from them which continues to cause them pain. It’s not all that common for countries to have a national day celebrating their “landing date” – another more inclusive date like Federation (when “Australia” officially became a united country instead of a series of separate British colonies) could be more appropriate to celebrate?
It’s downright ugly that on Australia Day people drink too much, behave violently and use Australia Day to either subtly or not so subtly express their opinion that only people who have skin the same colour as theirs should be living here or who aggressively suggest that Australia is the best country in the world – nationalist pride with its head in the sand.
And for me, at any rate, flying the flag this weekend, while often perfectly innocent, sometimes catches a few too many of the insensitive and ugly parts to be really happy with it.
Brydie listens to all this, asks a few questions about racism, refugees and whether we can stop off for an icecream. (No? Darn.) And accepts that we won’t be sticking a flag on our caravan even though we’ll be happy to acknowledge the day. A similar conversation ensues later with Jem during which we tackle the difficult subject of using symbols like the Southern Cross to ‘dog whistle’ to like-minded people and she reads the excellent Sydney Morning Herald Editorial on the meaning of Australia Day, which Doug has pointed out to us both with his typical eye for an insightful commentary.
And it’s here that I find myself dwelling: those of us who critique the populism of Australia Day, the boganism, chest beating, rosy view of history, cringe-worthy nationalist speeches and merchandising and excuse for a massive National piss-up followed by a monumental hangover – those of us who take our hands off the flags and leave them for others to pick up – we vacate the space and with our slightly disdainful negativity we run the risk of leaving nothing much for our children to inhabit.
Whatever the issue, it’s all too easy to stand at the sidelines and be a critic rather than getting on with the job of making the game better, fairer for everyone. I want my children to genuinely know what the issues are, but I don’t want them to decide as a result they should stop playing.
The Herald Editorial lists each state nominee for Australian of the Year (taken out this year by Adam Goodes) and concludes “These and countless other unsung Australians do not bother with the ideological wars and trite politics of daily national discourse. They get on with helping others. They give back.”
It’s a fine balance. There’s a place for speaking out against injustice and keeping political leaders accountable alongside ‘simply getting on with helping others’, I think. But much of the success of those who manage to get the balance right must surely have to do with the attitude they bring to life and the people they serve – not angry, not bitter, not disdainful, not lacerating of others faults and failing and ‘small mindedness’ – but somehow genuinely optimistic, seeking the best in others.
“The modern reality is that myriad Australians from multiple backgrounds have varied, interesting and positive reasons for loving this country and various views about how it can reach its potential. All Australians should be accepting and tolerant of this diversity.
Successful nations manage to find a consensus in which everyone can claim to love their nation, albeit for different reasons.”
That’s a challenge, but one I’m willing to embrace and want to see our girls embrace as well as they grow up to participate in a political life that I hope won’t be marked by cynicism but by optimistic engagement.
Because nothing else will make any lasting difference. (Although possibly that icecream would have helped)
Happy Australia Day.
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