Dick Smith wrote of his concern about the divisiveness of Australia Day in Fairfax media a couple of days ago.  We think it worth sharing.

Celebrating our national day on the date of British settlement in 1788 has never been a date that brings all Australians together, no matter how many flags we wave or happy barbecues we may enjoy. For many Indigenous Australians, the date is no holiday but a reminder of their country being taken over by others. It completely disrupted a way of life that had been undisturbed for 50,000 years.

The early British settlers considered Australia “Terra Nullius”, in effect an empty place that would be subject to British law and customs and the indigenous people were, for the most part, invisible and discounted.

Fortunately, in the last few decades most Australians have changed their views on this. We now understand that the first Australians lived here for countless generations in balance with the fragile Australian environment. Using fire and moving lightly on the land, they not only nurtured the environment, but developed a rich and remarkable culture that has survived longer than any civilisation in history.

The more we appreciate this remarkable story of human endurance that we are now part of, the more we have come to understand how much Indigenous Australians can teach us about carefully managing our natural wonders.

Our modern economy is built on furious growth and expansion and it is not building the foundation of a society that will survive anywhere near as long as Aboriginal culture. Quite simply, our way of life is becoming unsustainable. We cannot dig and deforest forever, our cities must soon enough stop expanding and the mad rush to own more and more will end badly. Exponential growth in a finite world is an impossibility.

For some years now I have been arguing that a step we could take towards building a society that will prosper for countless generations is to recognise that out national day must start with celebrating the truth: that is that Indigenous Australians were here before the new settlers and our national day should not be built around the day the First Fleet and its cargo of convicts arrived in Sydney Harbour. It’s not an opinion that has always been popular.

When I was appointed Chair of the National Centenary of Federation Council, one of the suggestions I made was to change Australia Day to a date we could all celebrate. Did that go down like a lead balloon!  I had no support at all.  Clearly, Prime Minister John Howard – who had appointed me – was not supportive of the idea; neither were most of the politicians of the day. But as we begin to consider a referendum that will finally recognise Indigenous Australians in our Constitution, I think it is now time to revisit the idea.

Finding another date will not be easy but it won’t be impossible, either.  I would suggest a date that is orientated towards when we gained our independence from British rule or perhaps a date based on when Matthew Flinders first used the name ‘Australia’.  January 26 could simply be known as ‘First Fleet Day’– yes, an important day for modern Australia but certainly not the day that our more inclusive society should celebrate as the day our nation was formed.

We have built a remarkable nation in the years since 1788, but it is time to acknowledge that our modern society was established on the foundations of something much deeper and even more amazing. Our national day should reflect that truth.

This is not a view that all will support, I know and I wish them no disrespect. But one of the advantages of living in a democracy is we have the freedom to say what we think and be able to stand up for what we believe is important. I look forward to a day we can ALL celebrate as Australians.