Each year at this time, behind the veneer of backyard barbies and beer, a perennial debate rages about what it means to be Australian.

Academics try to define the ever-elusive “Australian character”, the government funds an advertising campaign urging Aussies to “celebrate what’s great” and the rest of us just look forward to the public holiday.

Because being Australian isn’t about flag-waving jingoism.

If there’s one defining quality that sets us apart from the rest of the world, it’s our laid-back character and culture.

We’re egalitarian.

We hate blowhards and boasters. 

We value mateship and we work hard, although we don’t begrudge someone taking the occasional sickie. 

We prefer sports stars to pollies and intellectuals, and despite being weaned on American culture and settled by the British, we are neither fervently patriotic or elitist.

We don’t go much for tokenism, and designating one day a year for us to celebrate what it means to be Australian seems like exactly that.

As a pall of economic gloom hangs over parts of the world, as the Middle East remains deadlocked in violent conflict, and as so many other parts of the globe are plunged into misery, we should reflect on how lucky we are to live in Australia.

And we should reflect on it every day, not just on January 26.

It’s a sentiment that certainly won’t be lost on the new citizens naturalised as Australians in Wagga today, many from parts of the world ravaged by war, poverty and persecution.

If only we could see Australia through their eyes, we would have a deeper understanding of what it means to live in “the lucky country”.

Australia isn’t perfect; Wagga has its share of problems, too.

But compared with other parts of the planet, we are an island of peace and calm.

As today’s local Australia Day awards across the region will show, we live in a community with a powerful sense of purpose and shared responsibility, where so many citizens will go to extraordinary lengths to help others.

And honouring those people, not draping ourselves in flags, should be the real message of Australia Day.