Australia Day
On 26 January 1788, a fleet of eleven ships, commanded by Captain Arthur Phillip, entered Port Jackson to establish New South Wales as a penal colony.
Origins of Australia Day
The tradition of having Australia Day as a national holiday on 26 January is a recent one. Not until 1935 did all the Australian states and territories use that name to mark that date. Not until 1994 did they begin to celebrate Australia Day consistently as a public holiday on that date1.
In the past, 26 January has been referred to as First Landing Day, as well as Foundation Day, and celebrated with dinners and drinking. Each colony celebrated their own holidays rather than the holiday of New South Wales.
Regatta Day in early December marked Abel Tasman’s claiming of Van Diemen’s Land for Holland in 1642, and the proclamation of its separation from New South Wales in 1825. Foundation Day, 1 June, in Western Australia commemorated the arrival of settlers in 1829, and Proclamation Day on 28 December the beginnings of British government in South Australia2.
Development of Australia Day
The Australian Natives’ Association (ANA) was a key advocate for establishing 26 January as a national Australia Day. The ANA, founded in 1871, was a mutual society. Before the modern welfare state, mutual societies existed to help their members in times of sickness and unemployment. The ANA also provided social activities such as picnics, bicycles races, and fetes3. Membership of the ANA was restricted to people who were born in Australia.
In 1946, the ANA prompted the formation of the Australia Day Committee. This group, and similar groups took turns acting as the Federal Australia Day Council (FADC). In 1980, the federal government’s National Australia Day Committee (NADC) took over this role with the agreement of the FADC4.
In 2004, the NADC fixed the announcement of award winners in Canberra, in front of Parliament House, shifting the focus away from the historical events of Port Jackson, and towards inspiring national pride and spirit5.
In 2009 the National Australia Day Council (NADC) received government funding of $3.3 million, contributing to its total revenue of $6.5 million6. This is a relatively small amount of money for the cultural impact of the NADC, indicating a strong acceptance of its themes in the community.
Australia Day Themes
With encouragement from historical organisations such as the ANA, attention had been moved away from the historical facts of the first landing, and towards ideas of nationalism and statism. While there is much on the Australia Day website about current and historical celebrations, there is only a brief reference to the events of 1788.
In calling First Landing Day, ‘Australia Day’ and making it a more national event, this has lead Australians to identify themselves as citizens of Australia rather than citizens of New South Wales, or other states. This makes it easier for politicians to centralise power in the federal government, rather than state and local governments.
By ‘inspiring national pride’ (through waving the Australian flag among other things) the NADC can provoke nationalist feelings which can harm free trade and peace among people of different nations. In order to defend our liberties, these themes must be rejected and celebrations decentralised to the state, local and even family level.
A Celebration For All?
Australia Day is not a day that everyone can celebrate. For the aboriginal people, the landing of the first fleet meant an irreversible change in culture and land use, with disputes over the acquisition and ownership of certain areas of land. At the very least, aboriginal people have legitimate concerns about celebrating the landing of the first fleet.
Today, while the circumstances of many aborigines is vastly greater than it would have been without settlement, for others, their culture and dignity has been emasculated by government interventions such as minimum wage laws and the welfare state (leading to unemployment and dependency).
By promoting Australia Day as a day of celebration (using tax money which aboriginal people also pay), the federal government is bound to antagonise aboriginal people who are rightly unenthusiastic about a celebration on this day. In doing this, the federal government itself creates a need for reconciliation.
A Liberal Way Forward
The events of 1788 are historically significant and are worth remembering. The liberal minded person should use private resources to remember or celebrate these events without the statist themes.
For New South Wales, a First Landing Day (or First Fleet Day) could be celebrated with a traditional dinner or BBQ with friends and family, and with a discussion of the historical facts of the transportation system, and the events affecting the local aboriginal population. Community events could include re-enactments of the first landing and other related historical events.
First Landing Day could also be an opportunity to present one’s own family history, including the time and circumstances of the ‘first landing’ of our personal ancestors, whether convicts or free immigrants. The study of local and family history could lead to a richer and less political understanding of the development of our local community, and of broader society on the continent of Australia.
Conclusion
First Landing Day was appropriated by nativists and is now used by statists to promote national pride. As the federal government promotes Australia Day it unnecessarily antagonises aboriginal people and creates a need for reconciliation. The liberal minded person should use private resources to remember or celebrate these events without the statist themes.
Sources
Robert Hughes, The Fatal Shore, Pan Books, 1988
Manning Clark, Manning Clark’s History of Australia, Penguin Books, 1993
1 Dr Elizabeth Kwan, Celebrating Australia: A History of Australia Day, National Australia Day Council, 2008, p 2.
2 Dr Elizabeth Kwan, Celebrating Australia: A History of Australia Day, National Australia Day Council, 2008, p 3.
3 Bret Christian, White natives fold their tent, Post, 24 February 2007.
4 Dr Elizabeth Kwan, Celebrating Australia: A History of Australia Day, National Australia Day Council, 2008, p 11.
5 Dr Elizabeth Kwan, Celebrating Australia: A History of Australia Day, National Australia Day Council, 2008, p 13.
6 National Australia Day Council, Annual Report 2008-2009, 2009, p 31.
© Danny Haynes
Tim Andrews, 13 January 2010, 03:02:
Okay, this is odd.
Why does this post read completely, totally, and utterly differently on my RSS feed than it does here?
Danny Haynes, 13 January 2010, 09:11:
Tim, the full article is here, but an excerpt goes on the front page of the website and into the RSS feed. I don’t put the full article into the RSS feed. Now, any comments on the article itself?
David Corless, 17 January 2010, 12:59:
In your Australia Day themes section you imply that having nationalistic feelings is bad for free trade. This is a very tenuous statement. There is a big difference between loving your country and having a particular economic preference.
Also, are you opposing this the having pride in your state? Why would having a love for your state (or local area) not harm free trade in a way that having pride in your nation would?
Pete Neal, 17 January 2010, 19:35:
What I love is that Australian’s have to be told to get excited about their national day (see the ads on TV). Can you imagine that being needed in the US? Nup.
BTW Really enjoying John Adams. Though they didn’t mention that his cousin and fellow-delegate to the Continental Congresses was an Anti-Federalist. They also don’t show the complexities of Jefferson’s politics.
Danny Haynes, 17 January 2010, 23:13:
David, the link between nationalism and protectionism is strong. Nationalism drives people to dislike imports and support things like ‘buy Australian’ campaigns. This nationalist attitude can be exploited by politicians and well connected corporations to enact policies that restrict free trade. The Australian Natives Association also supported campaigns to buy Australian goods. You can see the the common thread of nationalism through many of their ideas.
Loyalty to lower levels of government is not as dangerous and loyalty to higher levels of government. Because the states and local governments are smaller political units, they cannot engage in protectionism to the same extent as the federal government. Tax payers can leave smaller political units more easily, and there is less scope for self-sufficiency within a smaller political unit. Imagine if your local council imposed a tariff on ‘imported cars’ of 10 per cent. Most local council areas have no capability to manufacture cars. This tariff would be a great encouragement for people to leave that area, and because of this, the local council would be very reluctant to impose it.
Peter, I agree, the national pride is not entirely real, but government generated. If the people wanted to celebrate, they wouldn’t need the government to throw the party.