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It seems no time since we were celebrating Christmas and New Year, and now January is moving to a close, and of course, Australia Day will attract our attention before the end of next week.
This celebration has a long and confusing history with continuing unresolved issues that are well overdue for attention.
When the First Fleet arrived, back in 1788, they described this great southern land as Terra Nullius, which translated reads as "no mans land".
Britain was looking for a place to offload convicts, and saw it as a possible dumping ground.
There was no recognition of the people who had lived in this country for centuries.
Sir Henry Parkes, a later Premier of NSW described this as "robbery".
As most of us would agree, robbery in any shape or form requires restitution and appropriate compensation.
Our Aboriginal people are still struggling with the aftermath of the 1788 arrivals and the treatment they received.
With the current debate on The Voice, one can only hope that justice, integrity, respect and commonsense will overcome the current differences of opinion and allow for a more promising future.
It was not until 1935 that all Australian States and Territories adopted the title of Australia Day for January 26 and as late as 1994 before it was declared a public holiday.
It would seem that the biggest task for all of us, and especially our Parliamentarians and people in high office, lies in addressing the problems of the past, and finding a way forward into the future.
We need to get our past into line, and open our arms to new ideas.
Those of us who don't have aboriginal ancestors are all the successors of migrants, immigrants, and convicts.
We need to recognise the multiculturalism of our nation and acknowledge its inclusivity.
Everyone is entitled to dignity and respect, irrespective of race, colour or creed.
Australia Day is an occasion when we can honour and remember prominent citizens too.
It has been said that the good we do is interred with our bones, while the not so good live on.
The recent sudden death of Cardinal George Pell has attracted a lot of attention both good and bad.
Please God he will enjoy eternal rest in the embrace of his heavenly Father.
In our democratic society, we are proud to claim freedom of speech, but with it goes the requirement to ensure that what we are saying is soundly based on truth and neither libelous nor destructive.
Our Aboriginal fellow citizens enlisted in the armed services and fought in the World War for our country.
Sadly, when they returned, they were not granted the same ex-services privileges.
I can only hope and pray that the upcoming referendum on the Voice will open all the right avenues for the full, right, legal presence of our Aboriginal brothers and sisters and contain meaningful apologies for the misdemeanours of the past.
God bless Australia and each and everyone of our citizens, past, present and future.
May the future be richly blessed in countless ways.
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