To the Weekend Australian Magazine
Disparaging Australia Day (‘Our day of dilemma’, Jan 21-22), Nikki Gemmell wrongly states that ‘many of the people resolutely not joining in the rejoicing are the ones who were here first.’ Wrong! No living Australian was here in 1788. Equally wrong is her claim that indigenous culture is ‘front and centre of our national being.’ That honour goes to British culture. Yes, the world changed ‘most grievously’ for the Aboriginal peoples after 1788, but history cannot be undone; and many of their descendants benefit greatly from the culture and infrastructure of our modern nation.
NJ, Belgrave, Vic