Call it what you will, the day set aside to congratulate our country’s finest citizens, celebrate what makes Australia great, and enjoy a public holiday with barbecues, beach cricket and Triple J’s Hottest 100, is an anniversary many of this country’s first peoples would rather forget.

There are arguments for and against changing the date (the best I’ve seen is for it to be May 8 instead – say it with an Aussie drawl, maaate!) but one would hope this is for the celebratory aspects only?

We need to retain January 26 as an integral and important day in our nation’s history. Education around Indigenous cultures and what the arrival of European settlers meant for Australia’s  original inhabitants should never be cast aside. But there’s also a fair argument it shouldn’t be celebrated either.

One line from the Australian National Anthem’s second verse has always stood out for me: “For those who’ve come across the seas, we’ve boundless plains to share”.

I don’t recall ever singing the second verse during my school years, but it’s pleasing to see it has become more widely incorporated into schools, sports events and official programs during the intervening decade or two. Oddly, a rise in anti-immigration sentiment seems to have similarly grown.

As the world waits to see what becomes of the rise and rise of populism and right-wing factions like One Nation, UKIP and Trump’s Republican Party, vulnerable people fleeing war, poverty and rulers with iron fists continue to be downtrodden, locked up and abused – verbally and physically.

Not every migrant is going about it the lawful way, but given our comparatively privileged life here in beautiful Australia – and our own history of coming across the seas to start a new and better life – don’t we have some responsibility to help others seeking the same? Do we not have “boundless plains to share”?

What would Australia be without immigrants? How about the US? Multiculturalism goes beyond integration of culture and eating foreign food.

It’s about acceptance, tolerance, empathy and respect – basic human conditions many seem to be lacking and we’re all the more poorer for it. Is this the day to change?