with Rev Dr Chris Walker
Australia Day 2021
Australia Day has become a contentious one in our nation. While it is appropriate to celebrate Australia, doing so on the day that represents invasion to our indigenous population is not appropriate. We can rightly celebrate Australia as our nation and recognize those who have made contributions to our collective life, such as the people chosen to be Australians of the year whether local, young, senior, or the main award. Do my Christian convictions have an influence on how I view Australia Day?
As a Christian my first loyalty is to Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God he proclaimed. That, however, does not mean I am not glad, most of the time, to be an Australian. I am sixth generation Australian, the first Walker arriving in Australia as a convict in 1805. My Australian heritage goes back over 200 years. That pales in comparison with the over 60,000 years of indigenous Australians. I grew up in Sydney and have also lived for a time in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. I appreciate the Australian landscape and as a surfer have enjoyed the impressive coast of Australia. Trips to the centre to see Uluru, Kings Canyon and the Flinders Ranges and Kakadu have given me appreciation of the particular qualities of our vast Australian land. Living and studying in the USA made me conscious of being an Australian which is different to being an American with their strong nationalism and somewhat different sense of humour and even expressions.
While there have been attempts to go beyond nationalism, such as those who claimed to be internationalists or especially communists, nationalism is an important identity for most people. The Soviet Union imposed communism on its satellite states but when it broke down people readily reaffirmed their nationalist identities. Roman Catholics have at times been viewed with suspicion in nominally Protestant nations. Would their allegiance to the Pope overrule their loyalty to the nation? These questions were raised when John F. Kennedy ran for President. Donald Trump deliberately appealed to far-right Christians in order to obtain political power. They mistakenly viewed him as some kind of King David for modern America. I have trouble recognizing these far-right people as authentically Christian. Joe Biden is a genuine Catholic but did not draw attention to this instead focusing on wanting to unify the divided nation.
For myself, my Christian values come before nationalism enabling me to be critical of Australia and Australians if need be. I am not proud of the way the Australian government for years now has treated refugees and asylum seekers. I am disappointed that foreign aid has been reduced to the level it is at present rather than recognizing that Australia is a rich nation which should support nations that are poor. I do not agree with Australia’s willingness to join the USA in its military ventures every time we are asked to do so even in regions far from Australia. I did not even like the behaviour of the Australian cricket team in the recent test matches with India. I was glad that India won the series as they earned my respect by their performances after the disaster of the first test for them.
As an Australian Christian, I want Australia to be the best it can be as a nation. I desire it to be closer to God’s will for all people. There is still a good deal of racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination. My Christian values are that God created and values all people and that we have a special responsibility towards those who suffer, are disadvantaged, or are not treated fairly. I want all people to have the opportunity to share in and benefit by living in Australia. Provision needs to be made to ensure that all people are able to move towards their goals. This applies especially to indigenous Australians who continue to be overrepresented in our prisons, have greater health needs, and often have less opportunities than other Australians. There are those working towards overcoming these issues but we can do much better as a nation in supporting those programs that do make a difference. Paternalistic approaches have not worked and so we need to look to those that understand the situation, such as Aboriginal people themselves, and seek better outcomes.
No nation is without its issues. Australia is a better nation than most. I would not want to live elsewhere having spent time in other nations living or travelling. Australia is home. It is a great place. We are a successful multicultural nation, the most multicultural nation on earth. I would like us as a nation to continue to improve in regard to the issues mentioned above.
At present the pandemic continues to be the dominant issue in the world along with the economic problems it has caused. Australia as an island nation has handled the pandemic well. We are now able to live and work and move around with a great deal of safety and freedom. Even our economy is doing relatively well. There are those at the bottom of the social scale who will still need to be assisted. Climate change needs to be addressed and the Australian government should do much more than at present. The bush fires a year ago have surely shown the reality and devastation that climate change can bring.
The Australia Day awards, with people from every state and territory being nominated, showed that there are people making significant differences across the nation. They all were impressive, not just the winners of the major awards. It is appropriate to have a day when we honour such people. What we need to do now is to change the date so that indigenous Australians can affirm Australia Day in a way that they cannot while it represents the beginning of the dispossession of their land, the disregarding of their culture and the suffering of their people that continues to this day. Let us then find another day to celebrate Australia.
Chris Walker
Chris is currently serving the Assembly of the Uniting Church as the National Consultant for Theology and Discipleship.
He has served in a range of positions and places in the Uniting Church including local church ministry in three congregations in NSW, as a regional education and mission officer, and consultant for evangelism and discipleship, in Queensland, as principal of Parkin-Wesley College in SA, and as a mission resource officer for Parramatta-Nepean Presbytery.
He has a passion for theology, mission and discipleship. His interest in writing has resulted in various publications including five books, most recently Peace Like A Diamond: facets of peace (Spectrum, 2009) and Living Life to the Full: Spirituality for today’s baby boomers (Openbook, 2005).