As a fourth generation Australian male approaching middle-age, I must confess I do not like Australia Day. Not even the public holiday gets me excited. I am certain at some point, perhaps when I was a late teenager around the time of the bicentenary celebrations, it may have meant something to me. No more!
Critical analysis skills garnered in undergraduate Australian history subjects started the rot. The dawning realisation that the date of white settlement was not an occasion to inspire national reconciliation was a further incentive. Credible research that suggested the first few days of settlement were a veritable orgy of rapes and murder did nothing but crystallise my private loathing for the date.
What has finally tilted me ardently against the day is its growing use by Australian nationalists for the purpose of reviving perceived certainties of a rather dubious monoculture. Instead of being used for a forward-thinking and inclusive dialogue on our country's future, it heralds an opportunity for populists to hark for a return to 'good old days' Australian values with their inherent, yet cleverly disguised, divisions and power imbalances.
The chief flag-waver for the nationalists was John Winston Howard. But not even he could have predicted how dangerous nationalist sentiment could become under his rule. I refer to the Cronulla riots of December 2005 and the shameful nationalist 'initiations' at Big Day Out events the following month, where concertgoers were encouraged to kiss our national flag or face the consequences from roving mobs of thugs.
No doubt the same good Australians a week or so later were celebrating our national day with 'mates' over a lamb-laden BBQ and a game of backyard cricket fuelled by a Cold Chisel CD.
Why provide such a sovereign outlet for these ignoramuses? Surely a patriot manifests their love for country by daily deed and does not need a singular date on the calendar to celebrate civic pride.
The spiel from the Chair of the National Australia Day Council, former champion swimmer, Lisa Curry Kenny, seems unobtrusive. She claims Australia Day is an opportunity to 'reflect on how we all contribute to a peaceful society' and suggests the occasion 'reminds us to embrace our difference and celebrate friendship, the things that unite us and values we all share'.
They would be nice words if they were true. Unfortunately, the very act of celebrating Australia Day excludes a significant number