Australia kicks off bicentennial celebrations
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from January 1988.
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Thousands of aboriginal protesters who have declared Australia day a day of mourning, gathered at a headland overlooking the bay where the first fleet of British convicts and settlers dropped anchor on Jan. 26, 1788.
In his bicentennary message, Prime Minister Bob Hawke cailed on Australians to reflect on the country's heritage and multicultural makeup and said the nation should not feel collective guilt about past wrongs done to aborigines.
One thousand aboriginal protesters shouting "We want land rights," and "Shame, shame" marchec through Sydney to join 10,000 others from around the country in what organizers claimed will be the biggest black demonstration in Australian history.
Hawke, in his bicentennial address, paid tribute to the first convict settlers and said that after two centuries, Australia "is one of the most remarkable experiments in nation building."
Later, in a radio interview, he acknowledged "terrible wrongs" had been committed in the past against the country's indigenous aborigines, whom he conceded had little to celebrate.
"There is no reason Australia should have a sense of collective, national irredeemable guilt," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "That wouldn't be sensible. What we should have is an inherited sense of responsibility."
Thousands of yachts and launches crowded the harbour to see the arrival of a fleet of nine tall-masted sailing ships, reenacting the first convict voyage. The ships left England a year ago.
Thousands of Australians had camped out overnight, with beer coolers and barbeques for the daylong celebrations held under bright, sunny skies. The festivities were to end with a spectacular fireworks show over the city's skyline.
The Australian bicentennial authority said well over one million people would turn out for the events.
The streets of Sydney, a city of 3.5 million, were virtually empty of traffic as people took ferries or queued for trains hoping to beat the crowds, despite the Transport Authority's promise of free transportation.
Sydney Harbour Bridge, normally choked with traffic during the morning rush hour, was deserted. New South Wales and Sydney in particular are the centres of the celebrations because of historical links. But in other states, Australians held bicentennial "barbie" breakfasts and parades.
