Thousands of protesters marked Australia’s National Day on Friday (Jan 26) by taking out ‘Invasion Day’ rallies to show solidarity with the indigenous community of the country while raising calls to drop celebrations or move the date.
Rallies were taken out in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart as well as other major cities.
“One of the strong themes that we are marching in support of today is just find a more appropriate day to celebrate the nation,” a protester named James Cummings was quoted as saying by Reuters,
Every year since 1994, January 26 is celebrated as Australia Day. For most Australians, it is an official holiday and an opportunity to go to the beach, enjoy a summer Test match and have fun.
However, the choice of date coincides with the arrival of the European settlers at Sydney Harbour in 1788.
For some, the date marks the start of a violent colonial campaign that nearly erased the Aboriginals from their native lands.
Indigenous Australians make up 3.8 per cent of the country’s 26 million people and have occupied the land for at least 65,000 years.
Counted among the most disadvantaged people in the country who face several issues including poor health and education, they have been rejecting the holiday.
Aboriginal elder Adrian Burragubba attended one of the rallies and said “Australia Day doesn’t mean anything to us”.
“It’s the day of Aboriginal sovereignty,” Burragubba said.
British colonial statues vandalised
Notably, on the eve of Australia Day, statues of British colonial figures, Captain James Cook and Queen Victoria, were damaged in Melbourne.
Captain Cook’s statue was reported felled near Jacka Boulevard, cut off at the shins and sprayed with the words: “The colony will fall.”
Elsewhere, former British monarch Queen Victoria’s statue was smeared with red paint.
Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan condemned the attack and said this sort of “vandalism” did not have a place in Australian society.
“We will be working with the council to repair and reinstate the statue in St Kilda that has been vandalised overnight,” said Allan.
Opposition leader John Pesutto also stood in Allan’s corner and called the incident “unacceptable”.
“There’s no place for acts of vandalism or any other violent acts against people or property in our community. We support the right of people to protest and demonstrate but it must always be done in a peaceful and respectful way.”
(With inputs from agencies)
