A DATE can change the way we think about everything.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
December 25 tells us to express our love for each to the point of fiscal oblivion.
January 1 absolves the profligate sins of the past and fills the void with resolve to be modest, abstemious and committed.
April 25 gives us an impeccable memory.
READ MORE:
It’s when the seeds were sewn on the bloodied hills of Gallipoli and what sprouted forth helped shape the fabric of a nation.
Come January 26, the recollection seems to falter and the fabric becomes threadbare.
Birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, deaths: they’re all tied to dates which are largely random but we imbue them with a great sense of importance.
However, when January 26 rolls around things are minimised.
We fling thongs, we flip snags, we wear flags as capes, our sense of what’s important is changed because of the date.
There are moves afoot within the government to legislate January 26 as the date of Australia Day.
The same government which voted in favour of a Pauline Hanson motion deeming it was “OK to be white”, without recognising the racist overtones.
The date will remain on the calendar and happen at about the same time every year and its meaning might not ever be able to extricated for some.
It is the date everything changed on this continent and while momentous things have been achieved in this country by outstanding people, but the collective memory still fails us.
Since that date, there has been frontier wars, the flat refusal to even acknowledge people lived and thrived here previously and the stolen generation policies.
All these things happened after that date.
It shouldn’t be a matter of feeling guilty, it’s just about acknowledging reality and the truth.
The fabric might be frayed but we can find a thread which binds us together.
Our history could be much richer if we admit, allow and cherish its 60,000 year existence and the future will be brighter if we shun ignorance.
