Happy Australia Day!!!
Well for some of us it will be but for our indigenous people they still think it's a day for remembering the invasion of their country and the genocide that followed. If it wasn't the English who founded our country it would have been the Dutch or Spanish or some other European country and where would the aboriginal people be then.....maybe completely wiped out.
It gets to be a tired argument each year.....why can't we all move forward? They have had the apology for the Stolen Generation from the government, they are given billions of dollars each year from companies who mine on their land and from the government. What do they want?
The true aboriginal is rarely seen.....they are happy to live in the central and remote areas of the country. Those with the loudest voice are the ones who live in the cities, barely a gram of aboriginal blood in their bodies and yet still class themselves as aboriginals so that they can claim all the lurks and perks.
On any official form we have to fill out one of the questions asked is whether you are aboriginal or a Torres Strait islander. I never answer the question as I believe that we are all Australian but one day I am going to tick the box 'yes' just to see what happens.
I know I am sounding very un-Australian but I just wish we could all live in this country as one. So many immigrants have come to this wonderful country and are so happy to accept it as their new home and we Australians embrace them.
This was seen tonight in the Australia Day parade. Tony and I went into the city to watch the parade. You could see that they were proud of their heritage but equally as proud to be called an Australian. And the Australians in the crowd clapped and cheered for them. It was great to see!
As one English lady said to us when it was all over, "I just wish that they could do something like this back home in England". She is now a resident of Australia but it was her first Australia Day parade and she was very impressed.
By the way, the Aboriginal community usually lead this parade and have done so in past years, but this year they were conspicuous by their absence.
I love the photos of the parade. It looks so much fun!! I agree with you that many years have passed by, differences and changes have taken place, and by now we should all be able to live as one. We have a similar situation with our Native Americans. I think they should be able to live where ever they wish, and be afforded the same education and benefits as the rest of the people in this fine country. If we were as kind to these Native Americans as we are to the illegal immigrants, some of us might have a different view of what's happening today. Well, I won't go on a rant here. I wanted to agree and tell you that I enjoy your parade photos. You have a wonderful day, hugs, Edna B.
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