The Post got on the road and saw the community spirit amply evident not only in Gouburn, but in Marulan and Taralga, too. Barbecues, slip-n-slides, gumboot throwing, best hat contests and the anthem sung long and loud – that’s how they do it ‘round here.

In neighbouring Crookwell, Braidwood and Yass, the story was the same, and played out in happy photo galleries and videos.

For many, Australia Day is simply not a political act, and there will always be popular resistance to those who try to make it such.

This does not mean that people do not feel sorrow for how the Europeans arrived on this wide brown land nearly 230 years ago. Australia’s white settlement came at a cost to the indigenous and the impoverished alike, both captive in what was a prison colony.

That January 26, 1788 should be the starting date of that harrowing chapter of our national history is not the point of Australia Day; and to move the date to any other will not make good that history, nor address any of the other social ills suffered to this day.

Perhaps it’s like a wedding anniversary. Couples don’t celebrate the dress, the cake, the buffet or the guests when the date rolls around. It’s the years that have passed, challenges faced and achievements gained together since vows were exchanged that make the day.

In that way, Australia Day is not a celebration of a nation’s founding so much as an appreciation of what we have, and for what we wish.

We wish for so much more for our indigenous and impoverished of today, but politicising January 26 will do little to advance the cause. Banning barbecues or punishing patriotic pride will do even less.

The Medal of the Order of Australia is an award of prestige and recognition in this country, and in Goulburn Mulwaree it’s agreed there is none more deserving of the honour than Margaret O’Neill.

As a long-serving councillor, including as mayor, she is a woman – a friend, mother, sister, coach, counsellor, planner and listener – who has contributed much to this city’s growth and development.

So to Margaret we say thank you. In the face of many challenges in Goulburn’s history, you have kept on keeping on.