Claudia

Should Australia Day be a day of mourning or celebration of nationhood?

On Australia Day we come together as a nation and celebrate what is great about
Australia and being Australian. This essay will argue that we should and can
celebrate how far we have come over the years. Australia Day is much more than
barbeques, fireworks or a public holiday. It is a day for us, where we have the
opportunity to commit and reflect on our nations history and consider how we
can make Australia an even better place for the future. It is a day to focus on the
future and not the past, it is not that we have forgotten the past but it should not
be a day of sorrow and grief. As a nation we can work together to address the
problems facing Aboriginal communities and at the same time we can still see
January 26th as a day to celebrate that we live in a great country and we can
happily live alongside each other.
Australia Day is a day to show and celebrate how far Australia has come and
improved over the years. The national apology came at 9 a.m. on February 13th,
2008, when Labor Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, joined with the new Leader of the
Federal Opposition, Dr. Brendan Nelson, in saying sorry. We today take this first
step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all
Australians. A future where this Parliament resolves that the discriminations of
the past must never, never happen again. Representatives of the Stolen
Generations and many thousands of other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
gathered on public lawns between the old and new parliament houses to hear the
Prime Ministers speech. Millions watched these symbolic, moving proceedings on
television and reacted with strong emotions, particularly remorse, happiness and
relief. We cannot change the past we can only make better choices for the future
to make Australia a better place. We are apologising for what White-Australians
had done in the past. We are saying sorry for the loss of families, their
communities, country and their suffering. The time has come for our nation to
turn to a new page by righting the wrongs from the past and moving forward with
confidence to the future. Australia has improved and come so far over the years.
It is through events such as the National Apology that we should celebrate
Australia Day as we try just want to make Australia a better place for everyone.
Australia has so many things to be proud of and we have achieved so much.
Australia is a very lucky country; were very lucky having so many advantages.
Its great being Australian and so is our nation. We have made so much progress
not just with Aboriginal people but with everything else as well. We have clean
water, food, lots of land, education, healthy environment and so much more. Our
aim is to improve the future, we want everyone to be able to connect and have
the same rights with no discrimination. Reconciliation Australia is an independent,
national organisation that promotes reconciliation by building relationships,
respect and trust between the wider Australian community and Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people. Our vision is for everyone to wake up to a joined,
equal and fair Australia. Our aim is to inspire and enable all Australians to
contribute to reconciliation and break down discrimination. Reconciliation is about
building better relationships between the wider Australian community and
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander for the benefit of all Australians. We are
brought together and we can make Australia a better place. White-Australians

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Claudia
and Aboriginal people have made so much progress over the years and as a
country we should be proud to celebrate this.
Australia Day is also a day where everyone can come closer together and focus
on what we can do have done to make our future better and through equal civil
rights. The 1967 Referendum on May 27th, 1967 was a turning point in the
development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders civil rights. The Referendum
proposed two significant changes. One, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
people were finally to be included in the nation census, and two, allowing the
Federal Parliament to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders people.
Altering this section theoretically allowed the Commonwealth to override
discriminatory state laws. This was a great step forward for us, every day that
goes past we get closer and closer, welcoming Aboriginal people more and more.
Another Australian event in our history we should be proud of is the Australian
Freedom Rides in 1965. This involved a group of students from the University of
Sydney organising a bus to tour the Western and Coastal towns of New South
Wales. The purpose of the freedom rides was to draw public attention to the poor
state of Aboriginal health, education and housing. They were also used Also to
point out and loosen the socially discriminatory barriers which existed between
Aboriginals and White-Australians. It was really good that the University Students
went out and showed how this was a problem. Aboriginal people as a result now
have improvements in health, education, housing, food and water, but most
importantly they now have equal right opportunities.
We as a nation have come so far and we should be celebrating this progress on
Australia Day. We have apologised for what White-Australians had done in the
past with the Nation Apology from Kevin Rudd in 2008, which has made so much
progress towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Many people were
relieved and very emotional to hear the apology. We say sorry. Many mistakes
were made in the past but now we are making a change through Reconciliation
Australia. Reconciliation has built relationships, respect and trust between WhiteAustralians and Aboriginal people. Aboriginal people lost their rights and land but
now we are giving it back. Aboriginal people also have improvement in health,
education, food, water and now have their rights back. The things happened in
the past should never happen again. Its a shame it has taken us WhiteAustralians so long to apologise and give back what wasnt ours to take. We want
to come together and celebrate the importance of being Australian and Australia.
Australia Day should be a day of celebration because each day we are making a
difference and improving.
References
Woollacott, A., History 10 for the Australian Curriculum, 2012. (2015).
https://www.reconciliation.org.au/about/
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/02/13/1202760379056.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-26/dillon-a-day-for-celebration2c-not-a-dayto-dwell/3793024

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Claudia
http://www.australiaday.org.au/australia-day/about-our-national-day/
http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country/our-people/apology-toaustralias-indigenous-peoples
There are some good ideas here, Claudia. You have a clear argument (celebration)
and clear events you refer to (National Apology, Reconciliation Australia, 1967
Referendum, 1965 Freedom Rides), however, you maybe have too many events.
Cut it down to 3 events so you can save those words for your explanations and
linking sentences. Be sure to look over the TEEL format to ensure your
paragraphs follow this format. The more structured your essay/paragraphs, the
stronger your arguments. Be sure to also look over the referencing guide to
correctly reference your sources in-text (footnotes) and for your reference list.

Word Count: 1011 *needs updating*