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Wednesday May 23, 2012

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12 months to fix Australia Day

Posted by: Justin Smith, 3AW | 30 January, 2012 - 2:31 PM
Australia Day

It would have to go down as the worst Australia Day ever. Although it all depends on how you look at it – the one in 1788 wasn't all beach balls and BBQs.

But by anyone's thinking Australia Day 2012 was not a ripper.

There's been plenty written about what happened at The Lobby restaurant Canberra on Thursday when the PM and opposition leader shook some hands and had a little drink before it all went to hell.

Mr Abbott said a few words about the issue of black and white Australia, and mentioned the Tent Embassy earlier in the day.

Ms Gillard had a staff member show some poorly thought out initiative – via a union leader – and let some protestErs know where, and how, the Liberal leader was spending his January 26 (by the way, we're having ourselves on if we don't think these kinds of tips and digs don't happen all the time from both sides. It's called politics, Aussie style; burned to black on the barby and washed down with a cold one).

Both leaders were rushed from the eatery (that specialises in modern Australian cuisine and exotic game meats) like they were suddenly beamed down onto a cobblestoned street in Spain for the running of the bulls. And it looked like the bull was winning.

Through thousands of words that have been printed and hundreds of reports filed, a little sunshine shone on what happened. And after many statements and press conferences, the truth might be in there somewhere.

It's hard to say when it went off the rails. There was that survey from Western Australia suggesting people who display the flag are more likely to be racist.

The figures may have been true and accurate, but it makes you wonder why you would set out to prove something like that in a survey.

It sparked a string of outraged opinion pieces, letters to editors and angry callers. It proved one thing – if you tell someone it's negative to wave a national flag, they'll spend the next week waving it until their arms fall off.

Then there are the protesters. They no longer seem concerned with winning over hearts and minds and failed to convince one single new follower to their cause.

One day they might realise banging on windows, 'occupying', or getting taken captive on a Japanese whaling ship might make you feel good and get your head on the news but it falls short everywhere else.

So if that was Australia Day 2012, we've had it.

Some people spent the day waving the flag a little too hard and some spent time burning it. Neither side covered themselves in glory.

But whatever it was, it did show us something; we're further away from fixing this whole bloody mess than we could have imagined.

From the first day the black and white cultures were pushed together, we've had a bugger of a time trying to make it all work. Just when you think there's a little victory, there comes a massive defeat.

We could all spend Australia Day dreaming of a gentler time, back before 1788 when the clean water held more fish, or we could look forward to another day of extreme poverty staring into a baker's window just off Piccadilly. But it's not going to help much. 

It seems like the more we try and fix it, the less time we have spent really understanding each other. Bloody hard but you'd hope it's worth it.

With less flag-waving and slogan-writing for protest banners, we might be able to look back at just how we ended up with each other.

We might be able to understand mistakes and enjoy getting to know another culture.

Sadly, next year when we start talking about the January 26, there’s going to be a lot of time spent worrying about protests and political tactics.

The rich blue hats and the stars of the Southern Cross will play secondary roles to point-scoring and bites on the news.

So we've got 12 months to get it right, or book an overseas trip. Because if 2013 brings us I'm-More-Aussie-Than-You Day, or We-Were-Here-First Day, or I-Guess-We're-Just-Stuck-With-It Day, then we might as well give it a miss.

Follow Justin Smith @justinsmith3aw

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Tony Hodges has resigned from Julia Gillard's team MONDAY: Neil Mitchell says a senior Labor minister recently told him Julia Gillard 'has got a talent for the stuff-up .. when everything seems to be going well for her she somehow manages to blow it'. More details here.

Blog comments Your Say

  • Scrap it. The day's totally provocative. As soon as the 1st bogan put a flag on their car every sane person knew it'd end in tears. When idiots claim something as their own we ain't ever going to get it back.

    Mylene Tuesday 31 January, 2012 - 8:31 AM

  • Scrap it. All I saw down the Mornington Peninsula was young Anglo, beer drinking bogans wrapped in flags jeering at anyone who wasn't Anglo & being aggressive to anyone they saw as different. It's just a day for the beer drinking Aussie Ball/Cricket brigade to show their true racist underbelly. It's ugly!

    Matt - prouldy Un-Australian Tuesday 31 January, 2012 - 8:04 AM

  • Dissagree totally. Us real people had a wonderful Australia day. It's only the plastic people in Canberra who missed out, too busy trying to out politic each other. Shame they can't see how silly they look to the rest of us.

    Lilly Tuesday 31 January, 2012 - 7:49 AM

  • JUSTIN
    MELISSA & I DISAGREE WITH YoU WE THINK WE SHOULD KEEP Australia day the way it is.

    JASON & MELISSA FROM BORNIA & FERNTREE Monday 30 January, 2012 - 4:19 PM

  • Well said Justin; and bear in mind that Labor/(Gillard/Rudd or whoever) will be trying their hardest to make the voters forget Australia Day 2012 as it will be just before voting day 2013. (Unless we get lucky and have one beforehand).

    David T. Monday 30 January, 2012 - 3:58 PM

  • To have reconsiliation, both sides (for want of a better word)need to meet in the middle. I'm not sure that those of the tent embassy have any intention of recognising what white Australia has to say or appreciating that it was our ancestors who wronged theirs in a time that none of us would recognise, let alone be responsible for.

    Anon listener Monday 30 January, 2012 - 3:53 PM

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