PM slammed for ‘ignorance’ of Australia Day history

SCOTT Morrison says the arrival of the First Fleet “wasn’t a particularly flash day” for convicts on board, as he defended Australia Day being celebrated on January 26.

The timing of Australia Day, which marks the arrival of the European colonists in 1788, is controversial, with many Australians viewing it as “Invasion Day”.

But the Prime Minister said the arrival of European settlers, including many convicts sent across the world against their will, had been difficult for both Indigenous and nonIndigenous Australians.

“When those 12 ships turned up in Sydney all those years ago, it wasn’t a particularly flash day for the people on those vessels either,” Mr Morrison said.

But Labor Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Linda Burney said it was not helpful to get into a tit-for-tat debate.

“Suffering is not a competition. What the Prime Minister has said makes no sense,” she said.

“How can we expect to see real progress on issues such as reconciliation and closing the gap when he makes such ignorant and unhelpful comments like this?”

Mr Morrison criticised Cricket Australia on Thursday for omitting reference to Australia Day during Big Bash League matches on January 26, which he argued was a day of unity.

He said the national apology to the Stolen Generation showed Australia had been “pretty upfront and honest” about its past and warned against “airbrushing” history.

“What that day to this demonstrates is how far we’ve come as a country, and I think that’s why it’s important that we mark it in that way,” he said.

“It’s not about that day so much, it’s about how far we’ve come together since that day.”

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young told Mr Morrison to “read the room”, saying Australians were “sick of this type of ignorance” and wanted an honest recognition of history from their leaders.