RACISM WORRIES PUT ASIDE AS AUSSIES CELEBRATE

By Greg Tourelle of NZPA

Sydney, Jan 27 NZPA - Australians waved their flags and said "Happy Australia Day mate" to strangers on the street.

It was a festive country on Thursday, the Cronulla riots of December seemingly in the past as thousands enjoyed frolicking in the surf at that suburb's beach and at beaches around the country's coastline.

Others enjoyed barbecues, a day at the races or the cricket or tennis, or a schooner with their mates at their local pub.

Some 14,000 people became Australia citizens at ceremonies around the country. Among them were Richard Wilkins, a New Zealander best known on this side of the ditch for his television work on the entertainment beat.

Wilkins has been in Australia for 25 years and said he hadn't become an Australian citizen earlier because of his Kiwi roots.

"It used to be because I'd have to renounce my New Zealand citizenship, but that's obviously changed now. I'm honoured to be a dual citizen," he told the Daily Telegraph.

A more famous Kiwi, Russell Crowe, is expected to follow suit soon, but Australian media will still refer to him as a Kiwi when he throws phones and an Aussie when he wins an Oscar.

Most of those celebrating were content to leave the debate about Australia's history and its future to the academics, but Prime Minister John Howard caused a few talking points with his Australia Day speech.

He identified Australia's "dominant cultural pattern" as a mix of Judaeo-Christian ethics, the spirit of the Enlightenment and British institutions and culture.

But he praised the contribution of the Irish, non-conformists and successive waves of settlers to forging new attitudes and traditions.

"When it comes to being an Australian there is no hierarchy of descent," he said.

Howard said there was no need for moral panic or "national self-flagellation" over the Cronulla riots.

"Our response should reflect this nation's unswerving commitment to racial equality, coupled with an absolute determination to ensure that all sections of the Australian community are fully integrated into the mainstream of our national life."

He rejected following the New Zealand path of having a bill of rights.

"A bill of rights would not materially increase the freedoms of Australian citizens. No matter how skilfully crafted, a bill of rights always embodies the potential for misinterpretation, unintended consequences or accidental exclusion.

"History is replete with examples where grand charters and lyric phrases have failed to protect the basic rights and freedoms of a nation's citizens."

Howard also called for a change in how history was taught in Australia's schools, decrying a "fragmented stew" of post-modernism that had infected the subject.

"The idea that we should move away from sort of knowing when the Battle of Hastings was or knowing when Captain Cook came to Australia or knowing when certain things occurred simply because that's an old-hat rote way of learning is ridiculous."

History was falling victim to a crowded curriculum and "subjects deemed more `relevant' to today", he said.

Australia Day marks the first planting of the Union Jack flag by Arthur Phillip 218 years ago.

To many, though, it is also Invasion Day, marking the beginning of hostilities with the people of the land, the Aborigines.

Historian Inga Clendinnen, made an officer in the general division of Australia Day awards, has a beef about the date of Australia Day because of the invasion issue.

"People say it doesn't matter, `she'll be right'. And other things do matter more. But for some Australians, the day is a built-in insult," she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Ms Clendinnen said she liked the citizenship ceremonies in which new Australians clutched native trees, but disliked "sentimentalised nationalism" where flags are distributed to all and sundry.

She saw that as "the grafting of the pious American model on a society that is not pious. It reeks of American right-wingery".

Ms Clendinnen's citation for her AO credited her with "addressing issues of fundamental concern to Australian society" and helping to shape public debate on contemporary issues.

The Australian of the Year was Ian Frazer, who developed vaccines to help prevent and treat cervical cancer.

Sportspeople didn't feature prominently in the awards, which would have pleased Ms Clendinnen.

"Australia is defined too much in terms of sport," she said.

"Australia Day gives people the chance to think of the community they are lucky enough to be part of. I think of the firefighters, the people who attach us to this country."