It’s a day typically marked with barbecues, picnics by the beach and various social outings but for many January 26th, commonly referred to as Australia Day, is not a cause for celebration at all.
Today marks the day of dispossession of Australia’s First Peoples in 1788 whereby the First Fleet of British ships landed on New South Wales shores and claimed them as their own.
More than 500 Indigenous groups and an estimated 750,000 people were then colonised through force and the displacing of people and communities.
What is Australia Day to some is Invasion Day to others – a painful reminder of what indigenous people had taken from them.
Today marks a painful day in our history for many.
(Getty)
For this reason the change the date debate has grown in recent years.
Those in favour of changing the date believe it is disrespectful to Indigenous Australians to celebrate the decline of their people and what they perceive as the disruption and destruction of their culture.
Many of our favourite stars have taken to their social media platforms to advocate for the change the date movement today, sharing similar images.
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“My family and I acknowledge the pain surrounding today. We will not be celebrating. We will be listening and learning. #alwayswasalwayswillbe,” Today Extra host David Campbell wrote.
Packed To The Rafters star Erik Thomson shared the same image, simply captioning: “Change the date.”
Neighbours star Lucy Durack followed suit commenting, ” To our First Nations people and those touched by their sadness today, I send you love 🖤💛❤️,” alongside the popular image.
The captivating artwork comes from Blak Business, a page dedicated to “bringing together info, knowledge & resources to facilitate broader learning and discussion about Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander topics.”
Brooke Boney’s impassioned speech touched many last year.
(Channel Nine)Following on from her impassioned speech last year Today‘s entertainment reporter Brooke Boney has again spoken on the need to change the date, perfectly describing the pain many feel on January 26.
“You guys know it’s a difficult day for me,” she began telling fellow hosts Karl Stefanovic and Ally Langdon.
“I think its weird we have these big celebrations on this day in particular, I’m not saying that we can’t have a national day but that day in particular there was so much brutality.”
“Men, women and children were hunted mercilessly, unspeakable things were done to innocent babies and we choose that day to hold up as our national day, a day when Aboriginal people can’t celebrate that.”
“If you have a day that not everyone can celebrate what kind of message does that send to Aboriginal people?”
