by Max Pringle OAM
They’ve cancelled our Australia Day
Celebrations for this year
They’re worried we might spread COVID
If we all gather round here.
Though the swimming pools will open
And the entry will be free
So people can all gather there
There’s no difference that I see.
While it’s not me who calls the shots
We accept the choices made
Although there’s no way we would let
Celebrating our day fade.
As the Old Gaol will be open
It’s our regular day you see
So we’ll celebrate with members
And perhaps their family.
It’s when my family first arrived
From a country far away
They had no say in the matter
On that first Australia Day.
We’ve come a long way since that day
Though the journey has been rough
We’ve mixed with blood from many lands
And that’s made us strong and tough.
I look back on my ancestors
And I learn what they went through
And so we celebrate that day
It’s the least that we could do.
While January twenty sixth
To some doesn’t mean the same
For what took place in history
I can’t see that I’m to blame
So we’ll have our celebration
And if others don’t agree
From COVID or from something else
Then it’s all the same to me.
