238 years ago on 26 January a humble makeshift flagpole was planted on Sydney Cove. Governor Phillip and his officers drank the health of the King as the colours were raised.. Just 55 years later, Sydney Cove would become the artificial shoreline we now know as Circular Quay.
Over the years, decades and centuries that followed, much more would be built not just on the site of Sydney Cove, but across the Cumberland Plain, over the Dividing Range and eventually throughout the whole continent of this Great Southern Land. A huge debt of gratitude is owed to all those who undertook this nation-building work in circumstances unimaginable to the modern mind. We are the children of those who planted trees knowing they would not live to enjoy their fruit or shade.
Edifices of steel, brick, mortar—and sandstone—are impressive. Roads, dams, sewers and infrastructure quietly work in the background to provide the conveniences we now take for granted. But more impressive still are the intangible things that were planted here: our institutions, our ideals, and our way of life. Through colossal effort and determination, the very best principles of the old country— responsible government, liberty, the rule of law, fairness and equality—were transplanted here. And they took root. These are what make Australia a truly extraordinary nation and the envy of the world.
We have so much to be grateful for. Many of those who built the places we now call home are remembered only in the names of suburbs, streets and parks. But we should also think of the countless people whose names are now lost to history—those who endured hardship and injustice far from their homeland, yet showed extraordinary resolve not only to survive, but to build a future for their children and their children’s children. The fruits of their labour endure all around us today.
Australia Day brings many different and contrasting attitudes, and understandably so. While we have much to be proud of, no one would claim that we have an unblotted history. But for me, Australia Day should be, predominantly, a time to be grateful for what we have inherited, and to think on the responsibility we now bear to preserve and build for those who come after us.
Authorised by Mark Hodges MP. Funded using parliamentary entitlements.
