Australia Day: a day for healing and gratitude

Abstract

The Order of Australia Association invited me to their Australia Day Multi-Faith Celebration at Elder Hall, University of Adelaide on 26 January 2013. I was humbled and delightfully accepted the invitation. His Excellency Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce, Governor of South Australia, and Mrs Liz Scarce, Mr Hieu Van Le, Chairman of South Australian Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs Commission, and leaders of the ethnic and religious communities amongst others attended the event. The heart-rending event was laced with speeches, music, religious symbols and scriptures. His Excellency Governor Kevin Scarce gave a speech on the theme of the event, ‘Australians Together: Giving and Forgiving’. Indigenous Kaurna Elder, Uncle Lewis O’Brien, offered a coolamon of eucalyptus leaves as an expression of friendship between the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains and the people of South Australia. Indigenous Australians have used eucalyptus leaves to heal physical wounds. In his speech Mr Hieu Van Lee stated, ‘In this hall we have representatives of the first people of Australia, whose history and love for this land stretch back at least 40,000 years’. Mr Lee also mentioned that over the last two centuries people from almost every part of the world have migrated to Australia. The Australia Day event reminded the audience that there can be differences among people but the ability to live together is the strength of Australian society. The event also reminded the audience that hurting other people can be human nature but forgiving is a conscious step towards reconciliation. Yet the Australia Day event was also a time for me to reflect on how the original owners of the land felt when British setters arrived in 1788, and later how they felt when Aboriginal children were forcibly taken away from their parents and moved to reserves under the ‘civilising task’ of the Australian federal and state governments and church missions. • Dr Nahid Afrose Kabir is a Senior Research Fellow at the International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding, University of South Australia