Williams’ passion for change

YUGAMBEH elder and educator Ted Williams will enjoy a quiet day off today.

The usually private Gold Coast man said celebrating Australia Day on January 26 -- which marks the arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson in 1788 -wasn’t Australian enough and offended some First Australians.

“I’m not part of any movement or campaign to change the date, but I am quite passionate about the date of Australia Day being changed,” Mr Williams said.

“If we are keen to celebrate our “Australianness” it means a whole lot more than a bunch of British people landing in Sydney Cove in 1788, it’s a lot more than that.

“(January 26) is no longer representative of Australia as a whole.”

He said the nation should decide on a day that was not offensive to the people who are part of it.

“If we are serious about reconciling our nation with our aboriginal people why on earth do we show such disrespect by keeping our national day on a day they find offensive?” he said.

“The reconciliation process should be healing the wounds, not exacerbating them.

“If we’re going to have an Australia Day that everyone can celebrate we need to make sure no one is offended by it.”

Mr Williams said he wanted a day he could celebrate.

“I want to celebrate being an Australian on a national day, and I can’t do it on January 26,” he said.

“We can’t celebrate it on a date that is offensive to some people.”