aussie?



Hello.

Before anything else, I'm sorry for the infrequent posts! School has started, I've gone back to training for triathlons after several months off, I'm getting some work shifts, and I'm trying to fit in eating and sleeping as well. So I'm sincerely sorry, I'll try and get something up at least four times a week during school term, so don't desert me :D

So, Wednesday was Australia Day. I've always had a bit of a funny relationship with Australia Day. The 26th of January was, as we all know from Grade 3 history lessons, the day that the First Fleet arrived in Sydney Cove in 1788. It was also the day of the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern board of New Holland (that is, Australia). In other words, it was the day Australia was taken from the Aborigines and claimed as a British territory.

In recent years, the issue of acknowledging Aboriginal mistreatment in the past, and 'Closing the Gap' in the future has become increasingly popular, with the most obvious exhibit of this being Kevin's Rudd's 'Apology' speech. So why are we still celebrating what's great on January 26th?

I can totally understand that people want a day to celebrate our culture, but in my opinion, January 26th is the wrong day to do so.

We aren't celebrating Australia Day at all, we're celebrating Invasion Day.

xx

PS: I know I'm putting myself up to be called a hypocrit here, so go right ahead if you feel the need to abuse me, but above is the pavlova I made on Wednesday, more to do with the fact that I had the day off so I wanted to make dessert, and pavlova is one of the few desserts I can eat, than anything else. But it did taste good.