Time to end social divide, says Aboriginal elder Ted Wilkes. Respected Aboriginal elder, Associate Professor Ted Wilkes. AUSTRALIA Day is simply a "celebration for white fellas," respected Aboriginal elder Ted Wilkes says. Associate Professor Wilkes, who is today recognised for dedicating his life to fighting for better quality of life for indigenous Australians, called for a new national holiday that celebrates every Australian. But he also revealed that he was initially considering turning down the invitation to be named an Officer of the Order of Australia because of the hurt the day has brought his people. He is one of 40 Australians to be awarded the honour - and just six West Australians, including geriatrics specialist Penny Flett, conservation biologist Andrew Burbidge, sustainability expert Peter Newman, public health advocate Mike Daube and the late Kieran McNamara, the former boss of WA's environment department. "But since then, I've sat down and cleared my head, and I'm very proud to accept the honour," he said. I'm a proud Australian; I'm just a very, very proud indigenous Australian. I thought that if I accept this and it gives me a foundation for others to join me (that can only help). I know I can't do this stuff on my own - I do need others and I do need non-Aboriginal Australians to assist me, and I thought well if I get this award, I can use it to fight from within in a sense. Associate Professor Wilkes, a Prime Ministerial appointment to the Australian National Council on Drugs, said he was honoured by the recognition, which he would accept on behalf of his eight children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and other indigenous Australians. But he said Australia must change the way it celebrates Australia Day. "I think one of the big hurdles we've got to overcome in this country is the indifference that we have towards each other and as we see other cultural groups coming into this country, we still note that there are reservations and a lack of compassion we're showing to one another," he said. We need to develop our compassion for others who are different from us. If we can get that done, Australia will be a trendsetter in this world. That might then lend ourselves to allowing us to collapse the flag, and let's walk under the one banner. At the moment, Aboriginal people will be celebrating a Survival Day concert while other West Australians are sitting around on the river and celebrating Australia Day. Semi-retired Broome linguist Alma Hudson, 75, has been recognised for her work recording and preserving indigenous languages - a passion that was forged when she moved to Fitzroy Crossing in 1967 to translate the Bible. "I grew up in an era and I grew up in a part of Queensland where I met no Aboriginal people and when I came up here I could see what we had done to the languages and I could see the demise of the languages," she said. Former Pilbara MP Tom Stephens, who retired at the last state election, was also acknowledged for "service to indigenous affairs and to the Parliament of WA." Mr Stephens has been a long-term campaigner for indigenous rights, which even landed him in Wyndham prison in the early 1980s. "There's some symmetry and irony in the fact that 30 years later that work leads to me being included in the Australia Day Honours List when just a few decades ago that work was the basis for people taking great offence," Mr Stephens said.