2Hot2Hundred

It's been a pretty quiet Australia Day so far, but a nice one. The lady and I drove back from the Coast, where we were visiting friends, and listened to the Hottest 100 on the car radio. We're currently hitting the Top 10. There might be a BBQ on the cards tonight, but I'll see what my sister is doing.

Anyway, a tribute to Australian things:

Cricket
Heroic soldiersHelping matesWelcoming people from the rest of the worldCultural cringePretending to like beer/actually liking beerKylie Minogue
And apparently, a new tradition for Australia Day: calling it Invasion Day.
Yeah, I'm not big on this. The new Australian of the Year, Professor Mick Dodson, "says many Aborigines see the landing of the First Fleet in 1788 "as the day on which our world came crashing down''."

I can see where he's coming from. To Aborigines at the time, the landing of the British fleet would have been like an alien invasion today. With their amazing technology (guns, ships, medicine,... clothes), desire for scientific knowledge, and printed language, this truly was a civilisation fantastically and incomprehensibly removed from the indigenous Australians' own.

But... let's calm down here. There was an official apology to the Aboriginal people from the Australian Government last year (which has, in effect, made you and me just as culpable for actions completed 60 years ago as those who did them), but so far no litigation (which is good). Moving Australia Day is a step too far. For the vast majority of Australians, it represents a proud moment in the establishment of this nation. Perhaps a better solution would be to have an Aboriginal Remembrance Day? It would be easier to implement and just as symbolic as moving Australia Day. What do other people think?