On Thursday, January 26, Byron Shire, along with the rest of Australia, will be celebrating Australia Day – see www.byron.nsw.gov.au/australia-day.

The fashion for widely celebrating the birth of our nation on January 26 could be said to begin in 1938, marking the 150th anniversary of the First Fleet’s arrival. It is a perverse choice, given that the nation of Australia did not exist until 1901, and the event being lauded was the establishment of a penal colony by the British which led on to the dispossession of Indigenous peoples.

It also seems just a tad insensitive to Aboriginal concerns. Members of the local Aboriginal community mark it as ‘Invasion Day’ and celebrate the survival of their own rich culture despite persecution. It also concentrates upon an English ‘cultural’ heritage when our nation is now made up of so many more rich strands.

It would be no insult to the volunteers who are honoured on this day, and to the new citizens who choose to be naturalised then, if the birthday celebrations would be moved to some other date. Good citizens can be celebrated and awarded – and should be – at any time.

Many suggestions have been made of a possible alternative date. Federation of Australia occurred on January 1, which is a bit of a wipeout given the New Years Eve aftermath. Anzac Day would be over-egging the pudding. The opening of the first federal parliament on May 9 marks a decent interval between other events, and the more radical suggest December 3, the day of the Eureka Stockade in 1854, the day when Australians shook off their traditional lethargy and momentarily rebelled against oppressive authority. May 27, the day of the 1967 referendum which amended the status of Aborigines in the constitution to include them in census-taking, among other things, also has merit.

It’s worth thinking about now. And who knows, in another 200 years or so, we could also be celebrating our excellent citizens on Republic Day.