Thousands of Australians yesterday protested the anniversary of British colonization of their nation, with large crowds urging for Australia Day to be moved and for a day of mourning on the holiday some call “Invasion Day.”
The holiday marks the arrival of 11 British ships carrying convicts at Port Jackson in present-day Sydney on Jan. 26, 1788. For many, the day marked the beginning of a sustained period of discrimination and expulsion of Indigenous people from their land without a treaty.
Thousands of people, many of whom waved Indigenous flags, rallied in front of the Victoria State Parliament in Melbourne, calling for an official day of mourning to be declared across Australia. Roads and tram lines were shut down for more than four hours.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Large crowds in Sydney chanted for the Australia Day date to be moved. Thousands of protesters also rallied in Brisbane and the second day of Australia’s Test cricket match against the West Indies was briefly disrupted by demonstrators.
Major sports have stopped calling the holiday Australia Day, and the Australian Football League Players’ Association, several clubs and hockey teams have called for the date to change.
Two monuments symbolizing Australia’s colonial past were damaged in Melbourne on Thursday. A statue of British naval officer James Cook, who in 1770 charted Sydney’s coast, was sawn off at the ankles, and a Queen Victoria monument was doused in red paint.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people represented 3.8 percent of Australia’s population of 26 million in 2021, according to an Australian Bureau of Statistics census. Indigenous people are the nation’s most disadvantaged ethnic minority.
Tensions are high after Australian voters in October last year resoundingly rejected a referendum to create an advocacy committee to offer advice to parliament on policies that affect Indigenous people. The government had proposed the first constitutional change since 1977 as a step forward in Indigenous rights.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday said that the national day was an opportunity for Australians to “pause and reflect on everything that we have achieved as a nation.”
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