Australia Day 2010

I had a great Australia Day.  I spent it in the company of husband and friends. Our host had a swimming pool and this helped make the 40 degree day seem both pleasant and mild.  I am not exactly waterlogged but it was not for the want of trying.

I think Australia Day is a great day and should be a time to give thanks for this wonderful country of ours and I think most people would agree. However, I am getting a little tired of the press trying to turn this day into one of disharmony and conflict.  Hoons draped in Australian flags terrorising people should wake up to themselves. Aborigines who owe more of their DNA to their European "invaders" than they do to their Koori tribesmen should research the difference between invasion and settlement.  Everyone who lives in Australia arrived here from somewhere else, or their ancestors did.  Only the time frames are different.  Some arrived 40,000 years ago, some 200 years ago and some arrived yesterday.  I like to think that we can all live together in harmony as Australians.

Another Australia Day tradition seems to be calls to change our Australian Flag. Now I love my flag.  I think it is pretty and distinctive.  It means something to me because I have lived all my life under its familiar design.  However, I know that somewhere, sometime, those wanting to remove all traces of our British heritage will get their way and the flag will be changed.  I pray that sense prevails and the new design is something I like and can become fond of.  I hope the Union Jack is not replaced by the Aboriginal Flag or a kangaroo.  I like the Aboriginal flag and think it is a great design but it would look horrible stuck on our flag in its current design and its incorporation in the national flag would, in my opinion, diminish it as a great symbol of our indigenous people.  Kangaroos seem a little too kitch for my liking and it would be hard to make it look like something other than a Qantas logo.  The Southern Cross would have to be kept though.  I love it too much.

Perhaps the flag could be divided into two triangles like the striking Papua/New Guinea flag, with the Southern Cross in one triangle and something equally important in the other.  Perhaps it could be divided into three panels with the Southern Cross in one panel - something similar to the Torres Strait Island flag or the Canadian Flag.  Perhaps have a flag design something like the Northern Territory Flag with a side panel and motif.  Or maybe something completely different. Perhaps a really nice example of Aboriginal art could be incorporated into the design to acknowledge the original inhabitants. I just hope that whatever design is chosen is something I can live with and be proud of.

Waltzing Matilda as our National Anthem?  I shudder to think. Yes it was once our best known song but how many people know the words to all four verses and their meaning?  Besides I don't think the song about a swagman who stole a sheep and committed suicide is exactly the right image we want to convey to the world.  I know European Settlement started as a convict settlement but....  Besides "I still call Australia home", "We are Australian" and "Tie me kangaroo down sport" are also well known.  The thing is an anthem is something more than a popular song.  If popular songs could be anthems then there are hundreds of possibilities on the hit parades many of which would be more suitable than Waltzing Matilda.

However, all things aside I say thank you for my great country and the great people who have made it what it is. Long may we live in peace and harmony, continue to take the best of all cultures and continue to evolve into something wonderful.