I think we can all agree that Aussies love a public holiday. A chance to take the day off work and get together with our mates feat. good food, laughter, oh, plus the paid day off. Perhaps it is a much needed injection of public holiday penalty rates and a chance to earn a little more money to take care of a bill or treat ourselves. Regardless, public holidays are generally seen as a good thing. We can also agree that as we grow and evolve as a society that some public holidays have become a huge source of contention. None so hot as the debate around ‘Australia Day’ — AKA Invasion Day.
I could talk about the ongoing arguments for and against. I could discuss a need for empathy and active listening to both for and against. I could express my opinions, as an Aboriginal Australian, about our need to recognise the ongoing effects of colonialism and how to be both patriotic and celebrate the things we love about being an Aussie while also minimising harm to our community of First Nations peoples. But I won’t.
What I will talk about is something much closer to home. Not only am I a proud Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi person, I am also a full time performing artist. Before you groan at the inevitable lefty artist political opinions you assume will spew forth — let me back you up a second. I’m here to talk about business. I — and many of my friends working in the arts — are often put in a hard place when it comes to public holiday celebrations. They are one of the best times for us to pick up work since venues of all kinds, from cafes and restaurants to theatres and clubs that make up our nightlife, put on big scale events. People love a chance to go out and do something fun with their mates, most notably using the public holiday (especially a public holiday weekend!) to enjoy some well deserved time off and relaxation. Businesses would be remiss to not use this opportunity to make their venue or event the most enticing to get the punters in and make as much needed cash as possible. Performance artists of all kinds from drag, circus, cabaret and more are a luxury that they will splurge for to bring the pizazz to the party.
January 26th is no exception and that puts mob like me in a bit of a pickle. Whether you agree or not — for our people it’s a day of mourning, a day of sorrow and remembrance for families killed or stolen. My mama was part of the stolen generation, she died seven years ago. I grew up with her sorrow and hurt at desperately trying to find the family she was taken from when she was just a baby — she never did find them again. It was not that long ago that our people suffered the brutality of attempted genocide — the ongoing affects of forced assimilation and colonisation is something we struggle with to this day. So for me and mine, January 26th hurts. But I also need to work.
Kitty Obsidian is a proud Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi performer and producer. (Photographer: Joel Devereux)
Let’s be honest here, Aussies LOVE sports. They do not value the arts in the same way — we love our Netflix, our musicians and our clubs — but we do not VALUE it the same way. The funding for performance art — or arts in general — is not there. For those of us who manage to make a living out of being an artist is pretty rare. It means if I am offered a job, I take it. Does not matter if I am sick, injured, exhausted or mourning, I work. It is even more frustrating when I am offered work for an ‘Australia Day’ celebration where I am almost always offered less money than my regular rates… or less money than my white Aussie performer counterparts. It is infuriating to be asked to work on a day that has such a controversial background, that I as an Aboriginal person find incredibly insulting, only to be offered less money than usual. It feels like a slap in the face. It feels like ‘Oh, we better hire an Abo to show we care but don’t actually care about paying them.’ What a joke.
I would like to think Aussies are kind and empathetic people, even when they don’t understand. I would like to think that if we asked a Chinese person to work on Chinese New Year that we would be sensitive to what they might need culturally, and to pay them accordingly for the work. So why are we given no support or sensitivity to working on Invasion Day and paid a pittance?
Often First Nations artists struggle with depression, anxiety and feeling alone and ridiculed in public spaces on Invasion Day. Heck, let’s even take cultural sensitivity out of it. When we ask ANYBODY to work a public holiday they are offered public holiday rates, usually 1.5 or 2x the normal wage per hour. So at the very least shouldn’t we be offered that as well? I want First Nations artists to be hired at a decent wage all year round — not just Invasion Day or the public holiday weekend. We are not a token, or people you only have to think about once a year. We are an important part of Aussie society and deserve to be treated with the same respect for our work. I want us to be treated with sensitivity and care when we are asked to work on Invasion Day weekend. It can be as simple as the venue, producer or events manager asking “Hey, I know this is a controversial day, do you need anything to feel supported this weekend at work?”
I want us to be paid fairly for our work — the same as our white counterparts and at the penalty rates the rest of your staff get — 1.5 or 2x the normal rate for the working day. I want my fellow mob to feel safe going into work and safe to refuse work void of additional penalty rates. Many artists (regardless of race) do not have the privilege of saying no to work, but I can hope that one day we will be given those same privileges as non-artists who work in Australia. If they do have to work this public holiday weekend, I want them to feel like it is just like any other work day, not depressed, defeated and despised.
I want you — reader and everyday Aussie — to look at the event or party you are planning on going to and take a moment to see if there are any First Nations performers involved, and if not, ask why. If there are, great! If not, why not? There are plenty of us!
Put your money where your mouth is and book into the party that does have First Nations performers. Tip us if you can, but more importantly, tell the venue, producer or entertainment manager that you want First Nations artists who are entertaining you to be supported. So even though it is not a day to celebrate, maybe we can feel like going to work will be okay.
Always was, always will be Aboriginal Land.
Kitty Obsidian is a proud Wiradjuri/Kamilaroi performer and producer who uses they/them pronouns.
