Australia Day weekend

It is ‘Australia Day’ long weekend with a bank holiday today, Monday. This is the time when Australians ask each other what it is to be an Australian. The news media is helping in this with questions and answers and copious opinions.

We read in the paper and hear on the radio moving descriptions of peoples’ ‘voyages’ to the citizenship ceremonies that were held throughout the country on Friday.

I am not an Australian and at times like this I feel it’s an enormous privilege and an enormous piece of luck to be able to make my home here. The news media tells us, that out there, in the big wide world, hundreds if not thousands of people want to do just what I am doing. They put their lives and often their families’ lives on the line to make Australia their home.

This weekend the weather smiled on us all. It’s been, perfect. The sun’s shone and the temperatures have been in the early twenties.

I, too, have had a perfect weekend. On Friday a friend and I spent a couple of hours having a spa and a massage and then lounging in the “Dreaming Room” watching yachts in Port Philip Bay glide past as we sipped on herbal tea. We followed this with a late lunch and a bottle of wine at a table on the edge of St Kilda beach.

During the weekend I have been to the gym, lunched with another friend, wandered around the Albert Park Shops and lazily reclined outside and read the papers.

When I was driving back from the gym my car radio told me how lucky Australians were to be born here considering that a baby is born somewhere in the world every minute.

One of the announcers’ examples of our privileged lifestyle was the way we conduct our parliamentary elections and the smooth transition when a new government is voted into office. A glance around the world and the recent elections that have been held elsewhere and we have to agree. It is another thing that we take for granted.

It is easy to become complaisant and get used to good fortune.

I needed a wake-up call from the Australian media.

I have become used to breakfasting in my courtyard, to having the choice of shows and movies, to having variety and buzz in my life and to be able to find work.

I have become used to things that astounded me and left me exhilarated when I first made my home here. I no longer think of them. They are just there.

Every now and again we need a reminder. Australia Day is a good time for that.