First Nations Foundation chair Ian Hamm says he's in no hurry to see Australia Day moved from January 26.
A proud Yorta Yorta man, Mr Hamm supports the movement to change the date but is not convinced there is an obvious replacement date on the calendar.
While unsure of the merits of a national day per se, in his view the celebration should be reserved for "when" Australia becomes a republic.
Labor have held a clear policy on independence from the Crown since the 1990s, arguably since the passage of the Australia Act in 1986; a subject currently the portfolio of federal member for Kingsford Smith, Matt Thistlethwaite.
With the upcoming referendum on the Voice, a national vote to see Australia cut ties with the British monarchy will have to wait.
In the meantime, Mr Hamm thinks January 26 has some value as a point of reflection and in forcing the country to face its colonial history.
"I think January 26 serves the purpose of making us look at ourselves in the mirror, warts and all," he said.
"Australia Day is uncomfortable, and causes sadness. But, it brings the focus to us every year. It makes Australia look at its treatment of its Indigenous people every year.
"It makes Australia shift uncomfortably in its seat. It (Australia) doesn't like what it sees."
Calls to change the date have long been voiced due to its ties to colonialism and the atrocities, marginalisation and pain inflicted on First Nations people since the arrival of the British.
The regular public holiday on January 26 dates back to 1994, 56 years after it was acknowledged as a Day of Mourning by the Australian Aborigines League and Aborigines Progressive Association in 1938.
Sights of "shallow jingoism" and "when people put on Australian flags and run around like they're Batman capes" are things that belong in the past, Mr Hamm said.
However, he warns a shift to another "random" date could act as cause for division.
"If it is a national day, then it shouldn't really just be centred on a portion of the community. It's got to engage as many people as possible," he said.
"So if it shifted from January 26 to another random date, because of us, what does that mean with our relationship with non-Indigenous Australia? Would non-Aboriginal people look at that as Aboriginal National Day (and ask) what's the meaning for the rest of us?
"It's not a necessity to have one (a national day). If you are going to have one you've got to have a substantive reason to have one. And if you do, it's got to be something that pretty well everybody can gather around in a positive sense, but also reflect on who they are at that point in time and where they want to go."
Mr Hamm said a country having an honest conversation with itself a good thing and a day to celebrate the collective public needs to be one looking ahead to where it wants to be.
