It should be remembered that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people consider this day in 1788 as the start of their land’s invasion, a story leading to massacres of their people, generations of kids stolen to be reared by whites, the destruction of ancient cultures and the infliction of inter-generational trauma the effect of which is still being felt. It’s not without cause that these people, the first ones to walk this continent, feel that if they celebrated today’s Australia Day would feel they would be dancing on the graves of their ancestors.
Cynical observers of the Australian political scene might come to the conclusion that the PM’s main objective is simply to deviate attention from the recent shenanigans within his Liberal Party which led him to become leader, where a deep divide on the party’s direction was very much on show and an anguished cry was heard from several elected Liberal women parliamentarians, who felt discriminated and intimidated by their party, and declared this openly. Whether this cynicism is justified is not as interesting to me as the subject itself, which I think the country would be prudent to take the PM’s suggestion and debate it thoroughly.
My first observation regards the reason given by Prime Minister Morrison for the suggestion of a new day. He is against the day of Australia Day being changed from the 26th January, as many are asking and also being accepted by some local councils, to the frustration of the federal government. For the PM, that day represents the moment when Australia changed for ever, and we cannot pretend this did not happen, he continued.
I think one might legitimately agree with this statement, without coming to the conclusion that this day is one of celebration.
Morrison’s proposal to declare another national day to celebrate the legacy of 60 thousand years of the first peoples of Australia, I see as a defence of Australia Day as defined today, and an acknowledgement that the first peoples of Australia should be celebrated by the whole country. The proposal is a pragmatic one, and reminds me of similar decisions taken by the Maltese Nationalist government of Eddie Fenech Adami, who when the time came to declare a Maltese National day, ended up declaring five dates of national importance as National Days, and did not choose any one of them as predominant.
What is common is that the debate that always arises in these cases is not taken to a point where a decision is taken which has broad agreement (not consensus however, which I think is impossible). In Malta, debate on a national day generally takes place along party lines, with Nationalist supporters favouring Independence Day, and Labour supporters preferring Freedom Day or Republic Day.
Malta’s decision to have 5 national holidays was a pragmatic move, where everyone felt winning something, but actually nothing really was resolved. Up to today, people from each side of the political divide acknowledges that the situation is just ridiculous that there is no moment in its history that unites the Maltese people.
If the proposal by the Australian Prime Minister is accepted and a new national day is created to celebrate the heritage of the first peoples, and voices for and against in this respect are being heard, I still think this will not lead to the first peoples of Australia accepting today’s Australia Day. The objective of unity of the country’s inhabitants will not be reached. We will end up with a large group of Australians celebrating one day only, and another large group celebrating the other only.
Where do I stand?
No further progress has been achieved since then, a year ago. If discussions resume so that the form of this requested voice be clarified and agreed, and put to a referendum where the Australian people has the opportunity of approval, this would be a great step forward to start healing the wounds of the past and the present.
That day, when the first indigenous peoples and those descended from immigrants would have made peace with each other and hand-in-hand start building their future and that of their country, would truly deserve to be called Australia Day.
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Ta’ min ifakkar li n-nies aboriġeni u dawk tal-gżejjer Torres Strait iqisu sal-lum dik il-ġurnata tal-1788 bħala l-bidu tal-invażjoni ta’ arthom, storja li kellha twassal għal massakri sħaħ ta’ nieshom, ġenerazzjonijiet misruqa ta’ tfal meħuda biex jitrabbew mill-bojod, qerda ta’ kulturi antiki u trawma inter-ġenerazzjonali li l-effetti tagħha għadhom jinħassu bil-kbir. Mhux ta’ b’xejn li dawn in-nies, l-ewwel popli li mxew fuq dan il-kontinent, kieku kellhom jiċċelebraw Jum l-Awstralja tal-lum għalihom iħossu li jkunu qiegħdin jiżfnu fuq l-oqbra ta’ missirijiethom.
Osservaturi ċiniċi tal-politika Awstraljana jistgħu jaslu għall-konklużjoni li l-PM moħħu biss biex jiddevja l-attenzjoni mill-intriċċi riċenti tal-Partit Liberali li wassluh biex isir mexxej, fejn inkixfet firda kbira fuq direzzjoni tal-partit u anke karba minn diversi nisa membri Liberali eletti tal-parlament, li ħassewhom diskriminati u intimidati mill-partit tagħhom, u stqarrew dan apertament. Jekk dan iċ-ċiniċiżmu hux ġustifikat ma jinteressanix daqs is-suġġett innifsu, li naħseb li l-pajjiż ikun għaqli li jilqa’ s-suġġeriment tal-PM biex jiddibattih bis-sħiħ.
L-ewwel osservazzjoni tiegħi hu r-raġuni li ta l-prim ministru Morrison għalfejn issuġġerixxa jum ġdid. Huwa kontra li l-ġurnata ta’ Jum l-Awstralja tinbidel mis-26 ta’ Jannar, bħal ma qiegħdin jitolbu ħafna u anke bħal ma beda jiġi aċċettat minn xi kunsilli lokali, għall-frustrazzjoni tal-gvern federali. Għalih, dik il-ġurnata tirrappreżenta l-mument meta l-Awstralna nbidlet għal dejjem, u ma nistgħux nippretendu li dan mhux minnu, kompla.
Jien naħseb li wieħed jista’ leġittimament jaqbel ma’ din l-istqarrija, mingħajr ma jasal għall-konklużjoni li din il-ġurnata hija waħda ta’ ċelebrazzjoni.
Il-proposta ta’ Morrison li jtiġi dtikjarata ġurnata oħra nazzjonali biex jiġi ċċelebrat il-wirt tas-60 elf sena tal-ewwel popli Awstraljani, naraha bħala difiża ta’ Jum l-Awstralja kif inhu definit illum, u rikonoxximent li l-ewwel popli Awstraljani għandhom ikunu ċelebrati wkoll mill-pajjiż kollu. Il-proposta hija waħda pragmatika, u tfakkarni fid-deċiżjonijiet mittieħda mill-gvern Malti Nazzjonalista ta’ Eddie Fenech Adami, li meta ġie biex jiddikjara l-Jum Nazzjonali Malti, spiċċa biex iddikjara ħames dati ta’ importanza nazzjonali bħala Jiem Nazzjonali, u m’għażel l-ebda wieħed minnhom bħala predominanti.
Li hemm komuni hu li d-dibattitu li dejjem jitqajjem f’dawn il-każijiet ma tiġix żviluppata sal-punt li tittieħed deċiżjoni li jkun hemm qbil wiesgħa fuqha (mhux kunsens, li dan narah impossibbli). F’Malta, d-dibattitu fuq il-jum nazzjonali ġeneralment huwa purament partiġġjan, fejn in-Nazzjonalisti jiffavorixxu Jum l-Indipendenza, u l-Laburisti Jum il-Ħelsien jew Jum ir-Repubblika.
Jekk il-proposta tal-Prim Ministru Awstraljan jiġi aċċettat u jkun hemm jum nazzjonali li jiċċelebra l-wirt tal-ewwel popli, u qed jinstemgħu vuċijiet favur u kontra, dan xorta nħoss li mhux se jwassal biex l-ewwel popli Awstraljani jaċċettaw lil Jum l-Awstralja tal-lum. L-għan tal-għaqda tal-poplu ma jkunx milħuq. Nispiċċaw ikun hemm grupp kbir ta’ Awstraljani li jiċċelebraw jum wieħed biss, u grupp kbir ieħor jiċċelebraw l-ieħor biss.
U jien xi ngħid?
Ma sar l-ebda progress minn dakinhar, madwar sena ilu. Jekk it-taħdidiet jissuktaw biex il-forma ta’ din il-vuċi tiġi ċċarata u maqbula, u jsir referendum fejn il-poplu Awstraljan ikollu l-opportunità li japprovah, dan ikun pass kbir ‘il quddiem biex jibdew ifiequ l-ġerħat tal-passat u tal-preżent.
Dik il-ġurnata, fejn l-ewwel popli indiġeni u dawk imnissla mill-immigranti jagħmlu paċi ma’ xulxin u id f’id flimkien jibdew jibnu l-futur tagħhom u tal-pajjiż, tassew ikun jistħoqqilha tissejjaħ Jum l-Awstralja.
1https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/sep/25/scott-morrison-calls-for-new-national-day-to-recognise-indigenous-people, retrieved 25/9/2018
2https://www.australiaday.org.au/about-australia-day/history/, retrieved 25/9/2018
3https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20180909/local/president-calls-for-sole-national-day.688668, retrieved 25/9/2018
4https://www.referendumcouncil.org.au/sites/default/files/2017-05/Uluru_Statement_From_The_Heart_0.PDF, retrieved 25/9/2018
1https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/sep/25/scott-morrison-calls-for-new-national-day-to-recognise-indigenous-people, retrieved 25/9/2018
2https://www.australiaday.org.au/about-australia-day/history/, retrieved 25/9/2018
3https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20180909/local/president-calls-for-sole-national-day.688668, retrieved 25/9/2018
4https://www.referendumcouncil.org.au/sites/default/files/2017-05/Uluru_Statement_From_The_Heart_0.PDF, retrieved 25/9/2018
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