‘Australia Day’ was first celebrated at a small gathering in Sydney in the early 19th century. Darwin-based historian Dr Elizabeth Kwan is the author of the essay “Celebrating Australia: a history of Australia Day”. She explains the original purpose of January 26.
“What was called ‘First Landing Day’ or ‘Foundation Day’ was to celebrate with a dinner in Sydney the beginning in 1788 of British settlement in New South Wales. So they were concerned with the survival of the colony because it hadn’t been easy, and that it was centered on Sydney. They were celebrating growth in prosperity, the love of Australia, ‘the land…we live in’ they called it, but also love of what they termed ‘The Mother Country’ that is Britain.”
Dr Elizabeth Kwan says after post-World War II migration from Europe, there was a growing realisation by the Federal Government they had to help all Australians relate with each other in a positive way.
“There still had to be an acknowledgement that had begun as a British settlement but there was a greater urgency to acknowledge the contributions that were coming from all over the world as well as from Indigenous aboriginal Australians so you find this growing attempt to balance celebration on Australia day with reflection and education so it saw quite a different side of Australia day coming through.”
