That was the question posed to former resident of Port Pirie Elaine Crombie, who now lives in Port Augusta for work, but that didn’t stop her from uniting with Aboriginal family and friends across the country to enjoy the national broadcast of the Yabun Festival.

Miss Crombie’s mother, actress Lillian Crombie, also grew up in Port Pirie and was happy to officiate as master-of-ceremonies for the major indigenous festival and

former Survival Day concert in Sydney that is Yabun.

Lillian Crombie, whose recent roles included a part in the movie Australia, was pleased to be involved in Yabun, a national celebration of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

As well as bringing Aboriginal communities together, the chairman of Gadigal Information Service Steve Miller said Yabun was also “an opportunity for everyone else around Australia to join us in celebrating our rich history and culture.”

The major Sydney festival was broadcast nationally to the Mid North and beyond, much to the pleasure of Miss Crombie and her Port Pirie family and friends who would also celebrate the festival.

While some Aboriginal people are outraged by the celebration of Australia Day on January 26, a date that also marks the anniversary of the First British Fleet’s arrival in 1788, Miss Crombie said many Aboriginals preferred to celebrate the day as Survival Day.

“If you take the alcohol away and people sit down to think about it for a bit, then they may, too, consider that the chosen Australia Day celebration date does little to unite us all,” she said.

While she would feel most comfortable wearing the colours associated with being Aboriginal – black, red, and yellow – Miss Crombie said she would also feel comfortable wearing the green-and-gold associated with Australia as a great sport nation.

Official Australia Day celebrations at Solomontown Beach included a Thanks-giving Service by the Ministers Association in which Nukunu land was acknowledged, and thanks offered to the Nukunu people and other Aboriginal communities of the district, but not before welcoming those who may seek to make Australia their home in the future first.