Australia Day Debate

Chinese Presence in Australia by Andrew Tran During the late 1800s, many Chinese came to Australia in search of freedom and wealth. However, when the Chinese arrived to Australia, they were treated with great hostility, racism and resentment from the European society. This was due to the very strange and unusual Chinese customs that the Australians/Europeans saw. Soon, the Australian government introduced the ‘White Australia Policy.’

The subheading ‘Wanting the date changed doesn’t mean you hate Australia. It means you want to be fair and inclusive’ reinforces the headline, so the reader is aware of the issue. Accompanying Wahlquist’s article is an embedded image of two young girls who are smiling, holding Australian flags and have flags painted on their faces which shows their pride for Australia and symbolises appeal to patriotism.The colour red evokes strong emotions associated with love and excitement, blue gives the feeling of security, and white innocence these colours are all shown in the Australian flag which makes the flag a symbol of national pride.The image acts to persuade the reader that the date of Australia day should be changed by making the reader feel un Australian if they

Besides, as we have said above, it is a political protest in support of the rights of Australians natives, who have been suffering abuses and injustices since the XVIII century.

Australia’s identity has always been a complicated one. Starting with Aboriginal genocide, 1800’s cowboys and villains, two world wars and a bunch of poems describing them, it makes it difficult to conclude on what being an ‘Aussie’ really is. Thankfully, the two thought-provoking poems Nobody Calls Me a Wog Anymore by Komninos Zervos, and My Country by Dorothea Mackellar both use their discerning selection of themes to reflect modern attitudes in some extent. Along with their themes, Nobody Calls Me a Wog Anymore and My Country both use their story to capture the attributes modern Australians possess to some degree.

We Australians must have been very well-behaved over the Australia Day celebrations this year. So much so, that media outlets had to dig deep into the archives to find a story to talk up that would fire up our Australian sense of nationalism.

“Your name,” Annalisa. “Your age” 39. “What happened yesterday at Cronulla?” Basically, it was the most controversial day of all time in Australia. It was full blown racism and after yesterday I’m disgusted to say that I am an Australian. “That’s not what I asked I said what happened yesterday?” I’m sorry I just got a little annoyed okay her we go. It was a beautiful day the sun out families everywhere I was with my husband who was involved with brawl and my young kids aged 8 and 4. We were sitting on the sand having a great time and at around 8:00 am a huge group came together to celebrate like Australia Day. At 10:00 am there was what I though around 5000 crowded around but as we were leaving the beach they started racial chants such as

On Australia day 1972 four Indigenous activists, Michael Anderson, Billy Craigie, Bertie Williams and Tony Koorie erected a beach umbrella on the lawns of Parliament House. These four people set up a protest and placed signs which said ‘Embassy’, this was to represent a displaced nation. The protesters were against the McMahon Liberal Government’s statement in which land rights were rejected to Aboriginal communities. They issued a petition which had a detailed five point plan which addressed that Aboriginals had ownership of existing reserves and settlements. The Aboriginal protesters said that they would stay out on the lawns opposing until the Aboriginal Australians were granted their land rights. After a while the Government realized that they needed to get rid of the Aboriginals that were camped at Old Parliament House. They decided that they would be removed without any disturbance and with plenty of notice.

Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.

It’s important to consider how Indigenous people are included or excluded in Australia Day events. “National occasions typically produce an enormous number of images, definitions, representations, stories, and activities which in one way or another are meant to express the meaning of our nation”(David, 2006, p. 92). That is very true, and a perfect example is how snapchat projected this day. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, see January 26 not as a day to celebrate, but is seen as a day that commemorates the invasion by British settlers of lands already owned. There are so many different perspectives that fall on this one-day but certain beliefs can get overpowered by

Calma, T. (2008). Response to government to the national apology to the Stolen Generations. Australian Human Rights Commision.

Over the past 230 years, Aboriginals have protested in many different ways to gain rights, which they believe they are deserving of. Through aims of what they wanted to achieve, the processes they went through brought them disappointment over the poor results of some actions and pleasure over the success of others. Over those years, very few periods of protest have been as revelational or effective as the protests occurring between 1938 and 1972. During this period many different groups of Aboriginals have fought for the common cause of being recognised as people rather than interferences caught in the midst of Australians expansion as a nation.

People affected by Cronulla Riots in any manner were ‘out of the frying pan, and were into the fire’, when the documentary displayed Prime Minister John Howard declaring the riots as “un-Australian”. He made us believe that his view was optimistic and disagrees that there is underlying racism in Australia.

With Australia Day associated to celebrating genocide and the destruction of the Aboriginal culture, the government must consider altering the date of Australia Day out of respect for the Aboriginal People and to further assimilation between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians, which in contrast to genocide, is something truly worth celebrating.

Life can often take you on unexpected journeys. Australia Day is a day for Australians to enjoy themselves and celebrate their nationality. Young men have unique ways of enjoying themselves on this day, and sometimes these festivities end with unusual events unusual outcomes and unusual life lessons.. My friends and I found such affairs on Australia day 2014.

The right to free speech is one among the foremost precious rights a person has as a citizen of Australia. This right provides individuals the chance to speak their mind and provide their opinions of what they believe should happen in their society. These rights are questioned and exercised throughout history, and have created extraordinarily positive things in most cases such as the Women’s work protests in August of 1970. Individuals