Australia Day brings "bewilderment and pain" to indigenous people and should possibly be moved to another date, a gala dinner at Parliament House has been told.
Leading figures from all walks of life gathered in Canberra on Sunday to celebrate 50 years of the Australian of the Year Awards. But festivities struck a sombre note when the guest speaker, author Thomas Keneally, said Australia Day was a "two-edged sword".
"On Australia Day, I believe, most reasonable Australians now admit that the descent of European people upon Australia brought bewilderment and pain for the Eora people of the Sydney basin," Keneally told the dinner.
Australia Day falls on January 26, marking the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788.
It is known to some as "invasion day". A debate that became known as the history wars has raged over whether it's appropriate to celebrate and take pride in the arrival of the Europeans.
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The history wars, which peaked under former prime minister John Howard, pitted those who took a positive view of European settlement against those who saw it as disastrous for indigenous communities. Keneally described January 26 as "an overturning of an indigenous cosmos".
The pain and bewilderment of the Aborigines in the Sydney area in 1788 spread throughout the country "and remain there to this day", he said. Speaking to reporters earlier in the night, Keneally said it was "worth debating" moving Australia Day.
The only problem was finding a suitable replacement. The author denied he was taking a black armband view of history, saying he was commemorating both sides of the debate.
Before Keneally's speech there was a party atmosphere at the gala dinner, which attracted Australians of the Year dating back to 1966 - racing car driver and designer Jack Brabham.
Former Australians of the Year John Farnham and Judith Durham of The Seekers performed for the crowd - a youthful-looking Durham belting out The Carnival is Over to a standing ovation.
Governor-General Quentin Bryce told the audience that Australia Day was both a time for celebration and "for solemn moments of remembrance".
The Australian of the Year was someone "refreshed by an inner light ... who holds up this light for the rest of us to follow", she said.
This year's Australian of the Year is a closely guarded secret and will be announced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Monday evening.
The Australian of the Year awards began in 1960. Medical researcher Macfarlane Burnet was the inaugural winner.
