January 26, what’s to celebrate but struggle?
Written by: Lindy Nolan on 26 January 2024
When Jacinta Nampijinpa Price outraged First Peoples by saying British “settlement” had a positive impact on them, she joked about her convict ancestors sent to Australia.
It’s true, England wasn’t kind to a huge and suffering underclass created by rising capitalism. Forced transportation ripped families and lives apart. But stolen First Peoples’s lands eventually brought better homes and better lives for most of their children’s children.
On 26 January, 1788, over 700 convicts were still trapped on board. One in 18 who left England died on the trip. More horrors awaited, for them and the 160,000 prisoners eventually sent to slave here. The First Fleet did better than the privatised for profit Second Fleet, which killed 26 percent of convicts on board. The rest were so sick, forty percent were dead within six months of arrival.
Convicts, sailors and soldiers were stunted from poor diet. Gadigal, Guringai, Wangal, Bidgigal and other clans grew tall and muscular. They thrived on the riches of the lands and waters.
When they saw convicts flogged, flesh and blood flying as the knotted, nine-tailed whips were flicked clear, First Peoples cried.
The invading British didn’t only destroy lives. The living stream flowing into what’s now Circular Quay became an open sewer.
A reminder
No wonder First Peoples were outraged four months back, when Ms Price praised what she calls ‘settlement’.
“A positive impact?” she answered a Coalition audience. “Absolutely, now we have running water, readily available food.”
She says Australia Day unites us, but her usual ally, Warren Mundine, disagrees. Like millions here, he wants to change the date. Why?
Whether it’s a Day of Mourning, or Survival or Invasion, or all three combined, it’s a day of struggle that unites First Peoples. As a public holiday, it easily brings tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of First Peoples and their allies to the streets.
Compared to a decade ago, a tiny number of flags now fly on houses or cars.
Woolworths’ CEO cited small sales for not stocking Australia Day paraphernalia, and was given lots of free air on ABC 7.30 to explain that and sharper questions, like why it really wasn’t ripping off farmers and price gouging customers.
Ms Price and her corporate backers use threats to Australia Day to bind their non-Indigenous followers more closely to them. A few target Woolworths.
Yet, struggle to change the date has become so strong, other corporations and their supporters seek to turn it into its opposite, a way of defusing struggle by First Peoples and their allies.
Both groups may gain strength if the date is changed. But whatever Australia’s “celebration” date, fundamentals remain. First Peoples will never give up.
Print Version - new window Email article
-----
Go back
Articles
Message from the "Department of Foreign Affairs at DFLP": Aggression on the West Bank |
Culture Serves the Ruling Class |
Pacific Islands Forum beset by problematic scenarios. |
Turkey: Freedom for the Prisoners of the Kobanê Case! |
Study of Marxism-Leninism is the key to understanding the role of the ALP and unions |
Attacks on Greens MP reveal ruling class distortions and weakness |
Sacking of CFMEU rank and file reps a wake-up call for all workers |
CFMEU members defy threats to defend their union |
Attack on Construction Workers' Union Is All About Profits and Destroying Workers Collective Power |
DFLP statement on "educational genocide" in Palestine |
US Indo-Pacific Strategy heightens Korean Peninsula tensions |
Statement of the Central Committee of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine |
Attack on CFMEU attacks every Australian worker |
Instability of Capitalist Economy Is Ever Present |
Cracks Within ALP Ranks Widen Over AUKUS |
Book Review: The Invisible Doctrine - The Secret History of Neoliberalism (& How it Came to Control Your Life) |
Bangladesh: Eradicate Hasina-Awami-Indian fascism completely and utterly. |
What do wine industry and early childhood education workers have in common? |
ICOR statement: Full solidarity with the workers and the broad masses in Kenya! |
Department of Foreign Affairs department at DFLP: “Targeting Children in Gaza is a crime that requires legal prosecution” |
-----