There is a lot of debate about Australia Day - the 26th January - and whether it should be changed to a less controversial date. It is not hard to see why, for the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 signalled the doom of Aboriginal civilisation. Indigenous Australians rightly see the 26th as a day of invasion and from their perspective, it is. They have very little to celebrate.

I am wondering if there might be a compromise position, one which establishes a tension between the celebration on the one hand, and the sadness on the other. I don't see why Australia Day can't be both a salute to the nation and a day of reflection. After all, this is essentially what happens on Anzac Day.

It is not for me to say, of course. I am not an indigenous Australian. But Australians do not fit comfortably into the patriotic, as Americans do, for which I am grateful. But a day which is both celebratory and given to reflection may end up creating something entirely new, something perhaps unifying. And altogether different.