With Australia Day done and dusted I am back in Starland flying solo, doing the catchup thang and reflecting on what has come to pass. It's a strange life this one and often I feel too much goes unnoticed and unsaid. Call me verbose. I guess I'm just interested in having a voice and being heard. I'm not one for patriotism, don't ask me why, it simply doesn't hit my radar. So on Australia Day when we are all called upon to celebrate this 'wonderful' culture we live in, I couldn't help but feel really sad and a tad angry about the whole thing. I think of it more as "Invasion Day" - a day of mourning. It is the anniversary of the day in which a boat full of white men invaded this country, killed hundreds of thousands of indigenous people, took over their land, annihilated their culture and enforced 'civilisation' onto one and all. It makes no sense to celebrate such a day.
Cut to the masses on Bondi Beach regularly boozing it up (only slightly more cautious on Hooray Australia Day now that public drinking has been delegalised), with a countdown until the first fight breaks out, waving their Union Jack-esque flags in the air and carrying soon to be land-fill ugly as, giant green and yellow floatable flip flop / thongs courtesy of Haviannas. This is actually a 'civilisation' that people are proud of. Am I an alien not to get? As an aside, which I find particularly odd and relevant to this discussion, beyond a certain hour you can't actually enter late night Quicki Marts in Bondi, you have to Brooklyn NY style, order through bullet proof glass, have the dude rummage through the store and deliver you your order through the window while you wait outside wondering whose got the gun... I found it odd that this wasn't the case in a less prestigious part of town, i.e way out West where I was in the early hours of the morning. So if we are to use the Eastern Suburbs as a benchmark of esteemed culture - there it is ladies and gentlemen.
Given that I was performing at a sunrise festival in Parramatta, followed by another festival at Dolls Point, then back to Bondi in the afternoon... I traveled from East to West then South and back East in which time I did not see a single Aboriginal flag anywhere. Not one. Many above mentioned 'Australian' flags flying off cars, hanging out of windows, on bikinis and boxer shorts etc etc... but not a single indigenous flag was to be seen. Should I have traveled North? I'm guessing the chances were even less in that direction.
The level of ignorant insensitivity is offensive. It's like celebrating ANZAC Day or 9/11... we just wouldn't do it. So why do we seem so convinced of how right it is to be all Ozzi Ozzi oi oi! on a day that reminds us of the mindless slaughter of the ancestors of this land? Because it allows another day off work in which to get drunk?
Read this article, it says it all. Note the comment: "It's got nothing to do with Aboriginal people." The karma!
It's been interesting trawling through the online media to find differing points of view - a challenge at best! The mainstream are tied to toeing to the line. I found this article, while obviously representing the pot of (white) gold opinion that the conservatives are looking for (note the photo), to actually hold some merit. It shook me off my own high horse in any case. It's true that we need to move on and live in the now and unity beyond anything else is what we aim for in all areas of polarised life BUT, I don't think that necessarily means turning a blind eye, forgetting what has passed, and showing a lack of respect or sensitivity to the original custodians of this land and what they have experienced in the name of progress. Can we at the very least start to fly some Aboriginal flags? That's progress, in fact that's an evolution in consciousness. It would seem like the logical start, especially on Australia Day. The Federation of Intergalactic Space Babes are onto this mission... more about that soon.
