Australia
swelled with even more national pride than normal last weekend in celebration
of Australia Day. With January 26 being a Sunday, Monday was declared a public
holiday and Australia basked (read 'melted') in the sunshine for a long weekend.
Australia
Day is widely promoted as an opportunity to appreciate the much-celebrated privilege of living
in Australia, to understand and respect cultural differences and take pride in
the country’s multicultural society.
As a
colleague put it however, it is also a chance to 'get your bogan on’ and go
around shouting “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!” while sculling beer. Australians are
frequently accused of being racist and interestingly, a few weeks
before Australia Day, a debate formed on social media about whether an
Australia Day T-shirt design featuring the words “Australia, established 1788”
was racist or not. Given the indigenous populations presence long before that
date it certainly seemed insensitive but I doubt it was created with that
underlying message.
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| Read about the allegedly racist T-shirt here |
Despite this cloud cast over Australia Day this year, I think
it is great when countries dedicate a public holiday to celebrating their
nation. When I lived in Turkey I always marvelled at the sense of national
pride Turks exuded. Ataturk’s words “Ne mutlu Turkum diyene” (roughly
translated as “How happy is he who calls himself Turkish”) have lived long beyond
the man himself.
 |
| Turks have a lot of national pride |
Personally
Australia Day makes me appreciate all of the opportunities that life in
Australia has presented me with and makes me grateful for the things I enjoy
about life here. This year was extra fun beacuse a friend, (a fellow Pom) became an
Australian citizen. Australia Day citizenship ceremonies are popular and take
place in the presence of a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the Australian
coat of arms. They are conducted by the head of local government, usually a
city mayor or shire president, and the new citizens make the following pledge:
"From this time
forward
I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people,
whose democratic beliefs I share,
whose rights and liberties I respect, and
whose laws I will uphold and obey."
I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people,
whose democratic beliefs I share,
whose rights and liberties I respect, and
whose laws I will uphold and obey."
As I
listened to my friend making the pledge it struck me that the process is a bit
like getting married to Australia, and promising to ‘love, honour and obey!’
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| New Australian citizens with the local MP and Shire President |
On a
more serious note though, I think the way Australia welcomes newcomers is
both admirable and hugely important. Afterall, a large proportion of the
Australian population came from another country, or is descended from someone
who did.
Australia
Day always leaves me a little sad that the UK doesn’t celebrate itself, but this
year, following three years of living here, it also left me wondering if Australia will one day make an honest woman of me, and I too will decide to marry Australia.
Time
will tell.
