28/01/2026
I've spent a lot of time over the past days listening, rather than celebrating.
As a white Australian woman of privilege, born alongside the longest living First Nations people and culture on the planet who continue to experience profound suffering, I feel its the very least that I can do.
Yes, I am proud of my Australian heritage. Of the 100+ years farming ancestry who worked hard to pioneer agriculture, raise resilient families, and build thriving town communities.
Yet, loving this country of Australia means also being willing to appreciate the whole truth about it. To not turn away, even though our colonial history is inconvenient and uncomfortable.
When we listen and sit honestly with Australia’s history, we see that our First Nations peoples have endured — invasion without consent, dispossession of land, frontier violence, the trauma of the Stolen Generations, and ongoing systemic inequality that still shows up today in health, incarceration, and life expectancy gaps.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have lived on this continent for at least 65,000 years, with complex spiritual, ecological and governance systems deeply tied to Country.
British colonisation from 1788 occurred without treaty or consent and was based on the false doctrine of terra nullius (“land belonging to no one”).
Colonisation led to mass dispossession of land, violent conflict, introduced disease, and the destruction or disruption of cultures, languages and kinship systems.
Frontier violence and massacres occurred across the continent for more than a century, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of Aboriginal people.
From the late 1800s until the 1970s, government policies forcibly removed Aboriginal children from their families. These children were often placed in institutions or with non-Indigenous families, where many experienced abuse, neglect, loss of identity and lifelong trauma.
The impacts of the Stolen Generations are intergenerational and continue to affect families and communities today - I highly recommend watching the documentary film Genocide in the Wildflower State.
Listening to Aboriginal people directly, telling their personal stories and sharing their lived experience, is heart-breaking.
And I can completely understand why most First Nations people simply cannot celebrate Australia Day on 26 January - I couldn't either.
Healing begins not by turning away from pain, but by meeting it with open-hearted presence, compassion, humility and love.
May truth-telling and a deeper respect for our First Nations peoples be the pathway forwards so that together, everyone can truly celebrate this magnificent, blessed country we all call home.
