On Tuesday, Victoria's Yarra City Council unanimously voted to stop celebrating Australia Day as a council. Moreover, they have decided not to even refer to January 26 as Australia Day until 'a more appropriate term is adopted nationally' — one that reflects Indigenous dispossession.
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The government responded swiftly, with the Prime Minister condemning the decision in parliament and Assistant Minister for Immigration Alex Hawke stripping the council of its power to hold citizenship ceremonies because it had used them for a political statement.
They are not the first council to make moves in this direction, and won't be the last. The crux of the opposition to Australia Day is that it is a day of mourning for Indigenous Australians. Hence the name of the broader social movement opposed to Australia Day: Change the Date.
It is worth noting there are no other viable days for a national celebration: federation happened on January 1, but that's already a public holiday and - as it celebrates the political union between the colonies - it has the same problems as Australia Day. Anzac Day too is already a public holiday and not without its own controversy. The Eureka stockade was built and manned by miners, whose compatriots led decades of racist opposition to Chinese immigrants.
Significant milestones in Indigenous affairs are no less political or more inclusive to broader society than Australia Day is.
However let's be clear: while there is far from universal opposition by Indigenous people to Australia Day, this is not really about changing the date. That's why there are no alternative dates proposed by Yarra City Council or other opponents to January 26.
Picking a different day to celebrate will not solve the fundamental problem: the foundation of Australia is inextricably linked with the dispossession of Indigenous Australians. The objection is to celebrating the foundation of Australia at all.
The founding of Australia was not viewed as an unqualified good by all Australians. Indigenous people have a right to reflect on the dispossession, racism and violence that occurred as a result of settlement.
There are some who compare Indigenous living standards today with those prior to the first fleet landing and argue that Indigenous Australians too are better off. However, we cannot know what Australia might have looked like had settlers treated Indigenous people as equals and partners.
And historical counterfactuals are irrelevant: invasion and colonisation occurred here and elsewhere.
Of course, most of those who landed with the first fleet had no more desire to be in Australia than the Indigenous people wanted them here. Nevertheless, Australia has grown into something great and special — which is why the thousands of people who seek Australian citizenship today desperately do want to be here.
The trend of applying modern standards of morality to the actions of people in the distant past will eventually ensure that no-one can celebrate anything or anyone. What is enlightened progressive thought in one age may be hidebound conservatism in another, and vicious prejudice in another still.
America is currently dealing with violent rallies over its past, particularly the south and the civil war. If you go back further, even a hero like Thomas Jefferson — who did as much as anyone for liberty in America and the new world — was a slave owner.
Nor is this just an American problem: last year controversy over philanthropist and imperialist Cecil Rhodes gripped Oxford University. And while French revolutionaries may be famous for the cry of 'liberté, égalité, fraternité', they are equally known for the ruthless use of Madame la Guillotine on innocent political opponents.
There are few countries in the world without a history of invasion, conquest, dispossession and slaughter. Indeed, Indigenous history too is replete with tribal violence. For almost all of human history, and in many places still today, the world was a very difficult place for the less fortunate.
There are some who want Australians to feel shame and guilt: for colonisation, for our refugee policy, for our failure to pay 'our fair share' of taxes and ultimately because we are the fortunate ones. They think pride in Australia is for bogans and nationalists.
Australia is not perfect. Yet Australians can feel proud of our country and its people, how far we've come, and what we've achieved, in spite of those who seek to shame us. An overwhelming majority of people believe the existence of Australia is something worth celebrating. Councils like Yarra City should accept and acknowledge the past and still celebrate, not in ignorance but not in guilt either.
It is OK to celebrate the good as long as we remember the bad.
Simon Cowan is Research Manager at the Centre for Independent Studies
