Australia Day a vital part of conversation about who we are By Alison Page Normal text size Advertisement Last week, a friend phoned and told me they were to receive an Australia Day Honour on January 26 – and to apologise for any offence caused. But I wasn’t offended – though it wasn’t the first time that assumption had been made. Australia Day is liable to evoke controversy each year. Credit:Virginia Star I am a descendant of the Walbanga and Wadi Wadi people of the Yuin nation on New South Wales’ South Coast. My father grew up around Botany Bay. My mother is a ten-pound pom.