Australia Day

Australia Day marks the arrival of captain Phillip’s ‘First Fleet’ in Sydney Cove, where a penal colony was established.  The predominant themes of Australia’s national day are barbecues, picturesque surf beach scenes and the enduring veneration of Crocodile Dundee.  On this day of commemoration, it is important to remember the persecution of the original Australians.

The Aboriginal population, estimated to have been between 750,000 and 1,000,000 in 1788, declined for 150 years following settlement, mainly due to infectious disease. Thousands more died as a result of frontier conflict with superiorly armed settlers.

 A government policy of "assimilation" beginning with the Aboriginal Protection Act of 1869 resulted in the removal of many Aboriginal children from their families and communities—often referred to as the Stolen Communities—a practice also have contributed to the decline in the indigenous population. This policy continued well into the 20^th Century.  Aboriginal people were not considered citizens of Australia until 1967, and some were regulated under Flora and Fauna law.  The Federal Constitution, written in 1900, explicitly stated that Aboriginals would not be counted in any state or federal census. Queensland was the last state in Australia to grant state voting rights to Aboriginals in 1965.  Aboriginals in the Northern territory were considered ‘wards of the state’ and were not allowed to vote in federal elections unless they were ex-servicemen up until 1962.

Voting and citizenship rights were finally written into the Australian Constitution with a referendum in 1967, which also removed discriminatory references to Aboriginals from the Constitution and gave parliament the power to make laws pertaining to Indigenous Peoples.  The referendum set a voting record, with 90.77%of the entire population voting in favour of it. Interestingly, the highest percentage of ‘no’ votes were recorded in territories with the highest Aboriginal populations, suggesting that anti-indigenous racism was still rampant in many areas of Australia. 

Though voting is mandatory for all Australian citizens, voting was not made compulsory for Aborigines until 1983.  Queensland has lagged behind in many Indigenous rights laws – Queensland Aborigines could be forced to live on reserves – virtual concentration camps until 1971, and they could not own their own property until 1975.    

On Australia's  national day it is imperative to remember the bloody foundations of genocide, slaughter and racism that the state is built upon.

Aboriginal prisoners taken by British colonists