As ‘Australians’ celebrate Australia Day, I always spare a thought for the traditional owners of this land, and feel quite sad they were over-run by white Anglo Saxons. There is nothing we can do that can change it, but it always bothers me slightly that on Australia Day the media and most white Australians celebrate and highlight the delights of Anglo Saxon Australians, the meat pie, the barbecue, lamb, beer and Aussie sport.

The fact we celebrate the taking over of, and massacre of Indigenous Peoples does still bother me…

Anyway, I lament no more; out of curiosity I looked up what the Australian government website says about Australia and its culture;

About Australia

“Australia is a product of a unique blend of established traditions and new influences. The country’s original inhabitants, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, are the custodians of one of the world’s oldest continuing cultural traditions. They have been living in Australia for at least 40 000 years and possibly up to 60,000 years.

The rest of Australia’s people are migrants or descendants of migrants who have arrived in Australia from about 200 countries since Great Britain established the first  European settlement at Sydney Cove in 1788.

In 1945, Australia’s population was around 7 million people and was mainly Anglo–Celtic. Since then, more than 6.5 million migrants, including 675 000 refugees, have settled in Australia, significantly broadening its social and cultural profile.

Today Australia has a population of nearly 23 million people. At 2009, about 25.6 per cent of the estimated resident population comprised those born overseas. Australian Bureau of Statistics projections from the 2006 census of the numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people suggest and Indigenous population of 575,552 people at 30 June 2011.

Many of the people who have come to Australia since 1945 were motivated by a commitment to family, or a desire to escape poverty, war or persecution. The first waves of migrants and refugees came mostly from Europe. Subsequent waves have come from the Asia–Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa.

Migrants have enriched almost every aspect of Australian life, from business to the arts, from cooking to comedy and        from science to sport. They, in turn, have adapted to Australia’s tolerant, informal and broadly egalitarian        society.

Key facts

• More than 6.5 million migrants have settled in Australia since 1945.
• English is the national language but other languages are valued.
• Australia is predominantly Christian but people are free to practise any religion they choose.
• Around 88 per cent of Australians go to at least one cultural event each year.
• More than 11 million Australians aged 15 or over take part in sport or other physical activity.
• Australia has one of the most diverse cuisines in the world but has no national dish.”

Finally, Australia truly is a great country to live in, and most of the population do celebrate its diversity. And thankfully our government have said sorry to its Indigenous Peoples. The The Young Australian of the Year is 25-year-old mentor Akram Azimi, an  Afghan refugee who said in an interview this morning he has had a wonderful experience living in Australia, and has found Australians to be welcoming and generous. For the most part, I am proud to be Australian.