There’s been a lot of rhetoric delivered by the government lately about Australian values, protecting Australian values and the Australian way of life. There’s a big problem with that!
Many non-Indigenous Australians believe what their grandparents created from 1788 on wards is the best country on the planet. You will often hear chants like “If you don’t like it, leave” & “respect our Australian values”.
Non-Indigenous Australian’s are so proud of what their grandparents created. They are so proud of this history, they are so proud that they celebrate it every year. This period from 1788 up until the 1970’s was a golden age for them where so called Australian values were born and prospered. They are proud of the hard yakka that built today’s modern nation. Through the most adverse conditions they overcame one of the harshest environments in the world to what it is today. So what’s the problem with that?
Well, it was all happening on the back of our genocide and slavery! At the heart of your values is the destruction of our race. How can you find it acceptable to celebrate values that were formed while Aboriginal people were being murdered? Australia needs to find some new values. We were here long before anyone else and we deserve a say in the values that represent and affect the future of this land. We are still here now and we are screaming for change. So please stop celebrating your values! Your values need a makeover. Many things are great about Australia but it is missing an Indigenous conscience, a voice of reason.
When the British came here to conquer our lands, they brought their western values, which to be honest, are very short sighted in terms of sustainability. By respecting our human rights, we can come together with an equal say, which would give us the chance to agree on new values that we can all celebrate together. This change would be monumental and would include the re-writing of the nation’s constitution.
Once we form this new nation we won’t be asking you to re-write your colonial history, we won’t be asking you to erase it either, we will be asking you to stop celebrating it. Stop celebrating it and start telling the truth. For every monument that exists, make sure the true story is told. If you wan’t to remember January 26th, that’s fine, but don’t try to call it our national day. Let’s make honesty one of our first and foremost national values?
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