The grand parade

More than two centuries after the British settled in Australia, Australia Day continues to evolve.

ALTHOUGH 2018 marks 230 years since Captain Arthur Phillip raised the Union Jack in Sydney Cove on the morning of 26 January 1788 to claim Australia for the Crown, ‘Australia Day’ is a recent event.

Not until 1994 was 26 January consistently named Australia Day and highlighted as a national public holiday. Before that, however, there was a long history of acknowledgement of the 26 January.

As early as 1804, Sydneysiders were tossing back the grog to celebrate First Landing Day or Foundation Day. In 1818 Governor Macquarie named the 30th anniversary a public holiday, and by 1838 it had become an annual New South Wales holiday. Other states and territories marked their own anniversaries, from Van Diemen’s Land’s Regatta Day in December to Western Australia’s Foundation Day on 1 June.

The centenary of what was then called Anniversary Day was celebrated in Sydney with events including the opening of Centennial Park. Interstate dignitaries attended, indicating that by 1888 the date was taking on significance beyond NSW.

It wasn’t until the 20th century that Australia Day began approaching its current form. In 1930 Victoria declared an annual public holiday on the Monday closest to 26 January. By 1935 the other states and territories had done the same.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, however, the day has never been a cause for celebration. Aboriginal leaders met in 1938 to mark a Day of Mourning and Protest and demand full citizenship (not granted until 1967). The 1988 re-enactment of the First Fleet’s landing in Sydney was countered with a 40,000-person-strong protest by Indigenous Australians and supporters, who have since named the date

Invasion Day, or Survival Day, and marked it with protest marches.

Australia Day continues to evolve amid growing calls to change the date. In 2017 some councils, including Fremantle in WA, announced they would drop or downplay their public events.The ABC’s national youth radio station Triple J attracted both bouquets and brickbats for its decision to move its Hottest 100 countdown of the previous year’s top tunes from its traditional Australia Day slot.

The photograph at right shows celebrations in Frankston,Victoria, in 1958. “Frankston’s streets were thronged with people…to witness the grand parade,” local paper The Peninsula Post reported.The parade was led by the Frankston Silver Band and comprised floats depicting “early scenes of Frankston and the Commonwealth as well as others in humorous vein”.There was also a boxing tournament, dog show and Beach Girl competition. In 2018 Frankston’s celebrations include the Australian Beach Games Festival.