AUSTRALIA DAY has long been a day when we stop working and kick back with family and friends.
However, I think it's also time to acknowledge that the great Australian Dream isn't shared equally by all. 
The vast, deadly gulf dividing indigenous and non-indigenous Australians will continue until we face up to this simple fact.
This is why we need a New Australia Day to be held on a different day with a different focus.
For most white Australians,   January 26 is the same as any other summer holiday; a bonus day of respite and relaxation.
But for many indigenous Australians, it's a day that symbolises the invasion and annihilation of their ancestors.
This is why we should follow the lead of New Zealand, and bring black and white Australians together to create a new day that reflects not just British history, but indigenous history as well. It's a case of doing the right thing after many years of abuse, dispossession, neglect and discrimination.
TV presenter Stan Grant's speech reminding us that indigenous Australians are "far from free" has struck such a chord with many people. This shows the tide is turning.
Grant is absolutely right that the "Australian Dream" so many of us celebrate is built on racism and bigotry. "I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains, of rugged mountain ranges," he told a conference last   October.
"It reminds me that my people were killed on those plains. We were shot on those plains, diseases ravaged us on those plains." Grant reminded us that indigenous children are more likely to be locked up in prison than finish high school.
That indigenous adults die 10 years before white adults.
And that one in four prison inmates is an indigenous male, despite making up only 2.3 per cent of the population.
These are shameful and damning statistics that should make all Australians hang our heads in disgrace. It may not be our fault, but it is our responsibility to acknowledge just how different the lives of indigenous Australians are.
Yes, indigenous communities need to do more, too. They need to confront substance abuse among their youth, and do more to stop the abuse and domestic violence rife in many isolated communities.
But the more we acknowledge the wrongs done over hundreds of years, the more these communities can work towards healing.
I don't want to suggest that anyone who dares to kick back and have a good time today should be ashamed. Most people work hard enough to justify a day off.
When we are having a beer and throwing some snags on the barbie with a few mates in the backyard, we're not celebrating the annihilation of the Aboriginal race. Far from it.
We're just enjoying a bonus free day in summer, and those lucky enough not to be working will spend it relaxing with friends. Nothing more, nothing less.
But we need to recognise the growing realisation that Australia Day is tainted. It can never be a day of celebration for everyone equally because of its association for many indigenous people. This is why it needs to be rethought, without judgment or blame.TWITTER @SUSIEOB, FACEBOOK.COM/NEWSWITHSUSE AND BLOG SUSIEOBRIEN.COM.AU