In so many ways Australia is the best country in the world to live in but we face a unique conundrum about the celebration of what should be our proudest day.
By a series of historical accidents the national day happens to be celebrated on the date when the first white people settled, occupied, invaded or whatever you want to call it, displacing and dispossessing hundreds of thousands of Indigenous Australians.
First Nations National Convention held in Uluru on May 24, 2017.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
If only Australia had a national day which was not burdened with this tragic dilemma. Look at the US which has the 4th of July, celebrating the universal rights of man.
But we are cursed every year to rerun the same tedious culture war. Indigenous people and their supporters quite understandably point out that they cannot take pleasure in celebrating the blackest day in their history or forget the previous 60,000 years they lived here. They demand the national day be moved to another date, although it is not clear when.
Other more traditional patriots however see this suggestion of moving the date as an attack on our national symbols and a criticism of all the good things about this country. Prime Minister Scott Morrison shares this genuine sense of outrage and this year even proposed punishing councils that refuse to hold citizenship ceremonies on Januay 26 and passing a dress code for the holiday. The latter was a very silly idea.
Yet perhaps a new approach is needed. It would be much better to channel the passion stirred up by bickering over the symbolism of Australia Day to addressing concrete issues affecting people.
January 26 is an excellent day to reflect on the progress made and the very long road still to go for Indigenous people. Too often Australians ignore this huge stain on our nation.
The Herald is not immune and we have probably not done enough to cover Indigenous issues, especially in recent years as economic reality has forced all newspapers to make hard choices about coverage. Our Australia Day resolution is to try to lift our game.
The Herald reports today on the chances of implementing one key reform demanded by a congress of Indigenous leaders in the Uluru statement "from the heart" in 2017. They called for an Indigenous "voice" in the Federal parliament.
The form of this voice remains to be determined but it is needed to give Indigenous views adequate prominence in areas that affect them.
It must be endorsed by a referendum and embedded in the constitution to ensure that, unlike the previous consultative body known as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, it cannot be shut down when it becomes inconvenient for the government of the day.
While some fear a voice would further complicate the procss of passing legislation, it would likely only be consultative and is much less radical than other options such as adding a constitutional preamble on Indigenous rights.
The Herald has long been a supporter of becoming a republic but the vote on an Indigenous voice should be given priority. Opposition leader Bill Shorten is right to promise a vote on the general idea of a voice in his first term if elected. It makes sense to receive the backing of the people for a voice before working out all the details.
Yet while establishing a voice is important it is but one tiny step. The report on the Closing the Gap process released last year highlighted the sadly mixed progress 10 years after the Rudd government promised to bring Indigenous people up to the level of other Australians on key indicators.
There are encouraging signs in a few areas. Indigenous people are living longer; more are staying at school till year 12; and more are opening small businesses. There are 250 percent more Indigenous people working in the mining industry.
Indigenous child mortality rates have fallen dramatially thanks to increases in the
take up of antenatal care programs, reductions in the rate of maternal smoking during pregnancy and inceased immunisation.
Yet Indigenous people are 13 times more likely to be in prison and the incarceration rate has got worse by 39 percent in the last decade. Indigenous children are 10 times more likely than the rest of us to be living in out-of-home care rather than in their parents' home, and young indigenous people are 17 times more likely to be under some form of penal supervision.
Breaking the complex cycles that contribute to these statistics is difficult but Australia must not fall into cyncial despair. There are solutions.
Perhaps one day, when we can formally acknowledge our difficult history and recognise Australia’s first inhabitants as intrinsically part of our national identity, the debate about when to hold our national day will lose its sting.