Author Un-named..
Just a little history lesson for all….
Willem Jansz, 164 years before Cook, makes landfall in Qld on 26 February 1606.
James Cook landed at inscription point on 29 April 1770. Also he was a lieutenant at the time.
Arthur Phillip first made camp at Botany Bay on 18 January 1788. The camp later moved to Port Jackson on 26 January 1788.
James Fremantle establishes Swan River colony later known as Perth on 2 May 1829.
Free settler permanent settlement later to be known as South Australia is given colony status on 28 December 1836.
The inhabitants of Port Phillip Bay establish a permanent colony now know as Melbourne after negotiating a treaty with the indigenous inhabitants, later given assent 19 November 1834.
The Parliament establishes a permanent colony known to be the Colony of Queensland on 6 June 1859.
For anyone claiming the invasion of the indigenous people of Australia occured on 26 January 1788 is sorely wrong, and I hope you have the same protests for 18 January, 26 February, 29 April, 2 May, 6 June, 19 November and 28 December. Mind you these are just the English colonisation dates, we could go further and add the Dutch and French dates but I think I’ve made my point.
Alternatively, we could all start to get along and focus on the real issues with our society. Being an Aboriginal man myself, I’d love to focus on the youth suicide rate. 5 Aboriginal girls committed suicide since the start of the year. Aboriginal incarceration accounts for a third of all the prison population. Mortality rates are higher. Our lifespan is lower than that of the non indigenous population. Education attendance and levels are significantly lower.. and the list goes on.
So rather than focusing on a trifling issue such as a day of the week, noting that there were other dates of European discovery of the mainland before the 26th, how about we all have a pie, a laugh, a late night lamb sandwich and a very open discussion about the real issues in indigenous communities.
