Australia Day 2023

Today is Australia Day. The holiday is a contested one. Each city has Invasion Day rallies, and some companies gave their employees a choice as to whether they had it off. Many people, myself included, are unsure what to do with it. There are many opinions about which way to go, but there are no strong contenders for action that will move us forward. I’m keen for some consensus and concrete suggestions that foster reconciliation with and healing for our indigenous peoples to be put forward.

We had a pretty low-key day. We began with a run at Albert Park Lake and a BBQ breakfast with our running group. While we were cooking the bacon and sausages, a passing Brit asked if he could take a photo of our group having an Aussie BBQ, which we agreed to. I laughed with our friend cooking the BBQ, saying, “Just don’t tell him that it’s a Frenchman manning the hotplate.” The run portion for me was just an easy 5km because I’d had vertigo the day before and was still not feeling 100%. This was followed by reading, resting and pottering in the garden.