Yay! Us!

It's Australia Day - and a public holiday. The weather is warm and humid, with a little breeze, the tourists are down the beach, people are having barbeques and enjoying the great outdoors for which this country is famous for.

Cars have Aussie flags flying, as do the flag poles and it's draped across balconies. There are concerts being held, citizenship ceremonies and more sport than you can shake a whippy stick at.

In 1770, Captain James Cook 'discovered' Australia and it is that landing we celebrate today. I say 'discovered' because the New Guinea and indigenous peoples had been plying the Timor sea for thousands of years. And the Dutch had dropped in, too - William Dampier and Abel Tasman - but they found the Northwest a dry, arid and inhospitable land.

There are, of course, those who don't celebrate today. Certain politically motivated indigenous groups who call it 'Invasion Day'; when a military expansionist invaded native land and declared it 'Nullis Australis' or empty land.

Today, land titles have been given back to the indigenous population, agreements on land use have been signed and cultural heritage protected. For those minority agitators, all I'm going to say is 'suck it up, build that bridge and move over it!'

As the song goes: We are, you are, we are Australian.

And it's a day for celebration.

Oh, and I've put up another story over at The Takeaway should you feel the need for a quick read.