Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate:

(a) notes that:

(i) on 26 January 1788, the First Fleet arrived at Port Jackson, and Arthur Phillip raised the Union Jack on the land of the Eora nation,

(ii) this is now recognised by many Australians as an invasion that had catastrophic and tragic consequences for the peoples and nations who had lived here for many tens of thousands of years, and for their descendants, and

(iii) 26 January marks over 230 years of on-going dispossession and colonisation for First Nations peoples;

(b) acknowledges that by continuing to celebrate Australia on 26 January we ignore the truth about our shared history;

(c) urges all Australians to respectfully engage in conversations about changing the date of Australia Day; and

(d) calls on the Federal Government to engage and consult with First Nations peoples about changing the date of Australia Day, so that all Australians can participate in celebrating this national day.