Normally I'd say the person named Australian of the year deserves our respect, and I'd bite my tongue rather than criticise…normally…
But I reckon Professor Mick Dodson has so severely embarrassed the honour, has abused the title in almost his first act…That I feel compelled to say something.
His suggestion that we move Australia Day because of "invasion day" overtones is insulting and dumb.
Professor Dodson was given the honour for his work in RECONCILIATION, and the fist thing he does is hit a hot button which is guaranteed to DIVIDE the nation.
He's backpedaling a bit on this, but only getting deeper into the mud as far as I'm concerned.
Mr Dodson says he just wants a "conversation' about the date… he says Aboriginal people weren't asked about choosing January 26 as Australia Day, and they just want to be included … to not talk about it is another act of "exclusion"
Huh? What decision… Australia Day celebrates the arrival of the first fleet at Sydney Cove… it's a historical fact… it can't be changed.
No-one CHOSE the date out of a hat… it commemorates an actual event.
Arthur Phillip decided Botany Bay wasn't right for a settlement and moved his fleet up to port Jackson… and as his own log reports, the ships were all settled at Sydney Cove by the afternoon of January 26th 1788.
Australia Day, we don't call it Victory Day or celebrate any subjugation of the Indigenous population… We use the date to celebrate ALL Australians.
Especially since 1988, the Bicentenary year… there's been enormous recognition and respect for the original inhabitants and the shocking treatment white settlers handed out.
Haven't we said 'sorry' a couple of times, now? John Howard said it at the Sydney Games opening ceremony, and Prime Minister Rudd made the big gesture last February.
And how many Australia Day celebrations will begin today with a "welcome to country"… an official recognition of the traditional owners?
Now, there's something which brings Australians together, instead of dividing and causing controversy.
Is professor Dodson not an Australian… is he Aboriginal first and Australian second?
If he MUST celebrate an invasion day, why doesn't he pick April 29th… because on that date in 1770 Captain Cook took his first steps on Australian land… that was the invasion day.
Or as one emailer joked, how about February 19th… the day in 1942 when the Japanese bombed Darwin… a real invasion!
Good on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for stamping on this straight away… immediately ruling out any change of date or name of Australia Day.
And what's done is done, we've got Mick Dodson for the year… but the Australia day council should have a long hard think about this.
If they wanted to celebrate reconciliation and not division, maybe they should have thought about Noel Pearson.
There's an Aboriginal leader who talks about giving his people a hand UP, not a hand OUT… that's an idea which should be encouraged.
So, professor Dodson…, if you want to start talking about 'made-up', fabricated ceremonies, before you start talking about Australia Day, lets have a discussion about "smoking ceremonies', … that's something which I don't recall ever seeing before 1988… and I'm pretty sure is "borrowed" from North American Indian traditions… let's have THAT discussion.
