Australia Day

Australia Day was celebrated with particular fervor this year; a reaction in no small degree to the "race" or "multicultural" riots at Cronulla in December. Here was the moment to say we are proud; a political statement. People wore the flag stencilled onto their faces. Cascades of fireworks. Television images marked with a particular, rediscoverd enthusiasm. The harbour, underneath the bridge, was chopped up with wakes from hundreds of pleasure craft. The ferries tooted, barbecues were held on every point of land overlooking the water. Even the desultory, normally struggling community events in a thousand tiny towns were packed out around the country. It was no longer gauche to be nationalistic. Once being proud to be Australian was out of fashion indeed. This year the Australian of the Year awards, which went to a Scottish medico who developed a vaccine for cervical cancer, was braodcast live, the annoncement of a winner awaited with heightened interest.

Aboriginals burnt the Australian flag in a park in Brisbane, thereby igniting another talkback flare. It was not against the law to burn the flag, and Prime Minsiter John Howard bought into the debate, saying he did not agree with making the destruction of the flag a crime; he might not agree with the actions, but it was a political statement. We took everything of yours and thought you should be happy. He wanted a drink. He always wanted a drink. They celebrated in a wild youth he could no longer even approximate. He saw their bodies, their faces, in the street, diamonds tugging at his own isolation, the yearning for the infinite, for company, which would see him taken from the ward.

Once again there was trouble in Redfern and I could not make it home; ending up sleeping at Dots. I drove home after a night at Stephens and I could see from a distance there was trouble of some kind. There were three ambulances lined up along the side of Redfern Station, and dozens of riot police were crossing the road, heading towards the Block, as I pulled up at the lights. The whole street was blocked off, and as I passed the thicket of police cars and turned the corner, I could see they had blocked off the streets descending from the Block, preventing escape. I couldn't see what the source of the action was; but I assumed it was all a combination of alcohol and resentment and looking for a fight; after a day of rhetoric about the injustice of their situation; the party moved from Redfern Oval to the Block.

The ABC reported: Two men have been charged after a disturbance at Redfern in Sydney's inner-west late last night. Police were called to a fight on the corner of Eveleigh and Lawson Streets just after 11pm AEDT.
Officers say when they tried to intervene, a crowd threw bottles and other objects at them. Two men have been charged, one with assaulting police and resisting arrest, and the other with hindering police. Police are advising motorists to stay away from the area."

Wasn't any doubt about being back in Sydney. We had driven and driven and driven, a 30 hour against all advice non-stop drive from Streaky Bay in South Australia. These were the sort of trips which really required a four-wheel drive. Unlike the trip over, where we loitered or were impaled in claustrophobic $65 a night hotel rooms where the sheets were clean and the walls made of concrete bricks, this time we were determined to get back. We stopped in Wilcannia at midnight, the car immediately surrounded by the aboriginal kids who roam the streets at all hours of the day and night. We were looking for somewhere, anywhere, that was open, midnight and we'd been driving since before dawn and there was another 900 kilometres to go. Mister, you got a cigarette? I ransacked Col's tobacco and handed them a wad. They seemed very pleased, untrheatening. They pointed the way to the Wilcannia Golf Club. You got any Yandi, they asked, using the aboriginal word for smoking dope. No, I said, thought you guys were supposed to have that sort of thing. They laughed, the teenage boys, the knocked off girls, the kids under ten. No, they said, and pointed again to the Golf Club.

They didn't have any coffee, there wasn't a garage open for another 200 kilometres, they watched the tennis from the early days of the Australian Open on a large screen and wondered - why is the dance floor covered with water. Then he realised, it was the water dripping from the airconditioning, which rarely went off; the condensation pooling on to the old wooden floor and the three tables of the bored and desperate. Imagine growing up here!?

While the streets had never been more alive, while people steretched out to each other, Sydney was a shock and his own head drove him crazy.

But here he was at the end of his four weeks holiday; with no choice but to go back to work. He didn't have the money or the resources to do his own
Sea Change. He tried to develop a quiet, humble, silent resolution, as the numbers clicked into place.

Here's a few samples of Australia Day media coverage:

Brisbane Courier Mail: From surf to turf, a day to remember: "The Queen's Baton Relay hitched its wagon to a string of spectacular Australia Day events across Sydney yesterday.
The best was saved for last when champion surfer Layne Beachley landed on a surf boat at South Cronulla.
Drenched by bone-jarring waves going out at North Cronulla, Beachley ran up the beach high-fiving youngsters lining her path while nipper lifesavers massed behind.
"It's one of the most remarkable experiences I have ever had," Beachley told 5000 people on the foreshore.

Spirit of Australia Day declared the headline in the Maitland Mercury: "Regardless of their ages, the estimated 4000 people who gathered in Maitland Park to celebrate Australia Day on Thursday were all young and free. The patriotism of the city's residents was in full force as they flocked to the annual celebrations and activities hosted by Maitland City Council. They carried Australian flags, wore flags on hats and boasted Aussie tattoos on their faces."

Nine MSN said: "Two stabbings were reported, more than nine tonnes of alcohol was seized and almost 90 arrests were made during Perth's key Australia Day celebration. But West Australian police have hailed their operation at the Skyworks fireworks display as a success. With 400,000 people watching the show on the banks of the Swan River on Thursday, some disruptive behaviour was expected, police Assistant Commissioner John McRoberts said."