| Before the big day came and everyone set off the BBQ parks and beach houses down the coast, I took a moment to reflect what Australia Day actually celebrates. On 26th of January I decided to ask few people what Australia Day meant to them and went to visit two different celebrations.
The Victoria Park in Broadway was hosting Yabun - Festival of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders Culture. The park arcades were lined up with the huge number of stalls representing various aboriginal communities of NSW, the associated development, art and media agencies and numerous socialist activist groups. The earthly colours of aboriginal flags could be spotted everywhere, fluttering in the air. The atmosphere was a mixture of a stimulating unity to support the aboriginal struggle for their rights, and a feisty resistance towards recent government reforms.
At a stall organizing protesters to go to Canberra I asked Lanvy, an active member of International Socialist Organization (ISO) what Australia Day meant to her. She refers to that day as the Survival Day and explains that it used to be called the Invasion Day. For her it is associated with shameful discrimination. “It is a disgrace that in such a wealthy country the indigenous population is highly disadvantaged and is affected by abject poverty. Aboriginal population living in one of the most developed countries in the world suffers from one of the highest infant mortality rates”.
Performers in Victoria Park |
Lanvy strongly advocates the introduction of a new land reform, which would return the indigenous people rights to their native land, and scrapping the current regulations of welfare control. When asked about the justifications for stringent government measures, Lanvy is of the opinion that the sexual and substance abuse is indeed an issue, however the “white” Anglo Saxon and other communities also face these problems and yet do not receive so much negative media coverage. The constant scare-mongering of the press and its sensationalism effectively create negative image of the aboriginal communities in Australia.
I was just about to ask the most challenging question how to achieve the reconciliation in the Australian nation when the deep sounds of dijireedoo reverberated in the park gathering the visitors to the centrally located stage. In few moments I had a chance to admire amazing dance performances of the indigenous communities from NSW. Accompanied by flutes and mystical chanting, two separate groups of males and females showed the history of creation according to their traditions, and presented various ritual dances full of chilling and ecstatic moves.
Three views of Little Reveler |
Further down another performance was taking place. Bridging the gap between the past and the present, young rappers from the local youth club representing various mixed ethnic background expressed strong opinions about the feelings within the disadvantaged communities.
Further at the stalls I asked Tina, other activist from a group which organizes volunteering programs in the outback, Indigenous Community Volunteers (ICV), about the significance of Australia Day. She says “It is paradoxical that it is to commemorate the moment when British sailors reached the shores of Australia and started building a new nation, but in actual fact we celebrate the day of carnage and genocide”.
The reconciliation is no doubt a controversial issue, but a lot of young Australians who arrived from Asia and the Mediterranean do not associate themselves with the savage British settlers. According to Tina the day of national pride should acknowledge that today’s Australia is an extremely multicultural country and it should be reflected in the celebrations.
With mind full of heavy thoughts I decided to taste a different type of celebrations and headed to the Aussie beach in Coogee. First thing that caught my eye was the millions of Australian flags in all forms and sizes. People were wrapped in them like in a cloak; the flags were on their shirts, shorts and painted on their faces and bodies.
The feeling of national pride and fun was overwhelming. Families with children were shouting happy Australia Day to each other over their widespread BBQ camps while the young were taking advantage of the opportunity the freely booze in public. Two tipsy teenage girls wrapped and dressed up in the national flag were trying to explain why Australia is the best place to live and they are very proud to be here. “Cos it has the sun, the beach and it is very, very cool. What else do you need?”
Simple as it was, these two girls hit the nail on the head. I decided to quit the pensive mood and put my camera and recording gear away. I slipped into the bikini to enjoy playing volleyball with the multicultural bunch of friends in a beautifully warm sunlight of a late Australian afternoon.
Text & photos: Magda Kopydłowska | 
