More Civil Societies with Julie Macken: How to Make a State a Nation
Another Australia Day has passed with the usual controversy and anger about the date, and increasing numbers of people showing up at Invasion Day rallies around the country where there were calls to “change the nation”.
On this week’s More Civil Societies, Julie Macken looks at the symbolism we use to define what it means to be an Australian, and it doesn’t look good: 1. we can’t agree on a date to collectively celebrate our nation, 2. we haven’t found a way to truthfully talk about the formation of our nation, 3. we haven’t found a way to move beyond sorry, and 4. we haven’t found a way to talk about restitution for harm done to Indigenous Australians. These aren’t the makings of a great nation, but rather “a state of problematic immaturity” with a fragile identity.
“Not knowing who we are has not made us a better state or nation; it is making us a more fearful and distrustful nation.”
