Australians turned out to protest against the country’s national holiday, calling the day “Invasion Day” as they demand recognition of the harm against the indigenous population.
“Let us all recognize the unique privilege we have of sharing this continent with the oldest continuous culture in the world,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said of the holiday at a flag-raising ceremony to mark the 235th anniversary.
Australia Day marks the day a British fleet first landed on the continent and proclaimed sovereignty over the land. In Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, huge crowds gathered to proclaim Invasion Day, the day the British took the land from Aboriginal peoples.
Protesters carried Aboriginal flags and an indigenous smoking ceremony took place.
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Another protest in Adelaide, in South Australia, drew about 2,000 attendees, according to the Australian Broadcasting Company.
As the Albanese raised a flag for Australia in the nation’s capital, Canberra, Deniliquin Aboriginal leader Laura Hand-Ross of the Wamba Wamba and Mutthi Mutthi peoples lowered the town’s flag to half-mast to acknowledge that “for many Aboriginal across the country, January 26 is a day of mourning,” The Guardian reported.
People take part in the ‘Invasion Day’ rally in Melbourne, on January 26, 2023. AAP
(Image/Diego Fedele via Reuters)
“I would hazard a guess that five years from now, I’ll probably start calling it Survival Day,” he said, adding that he has always referred to the holiday as “Invasion Day.” “But to me, it symbolizes significant changes for all of our people in Australia and particularly in New South Wales, from the absolute annihilation of almost all of our people.”
An annual poll found that almost a third of Australians believe the day should be officially renamed “Invasion Day”.
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In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Australian Center for Independent Study CEO Tom Switzer urged his compatriots to “upset the waking left” and “celebrate Australia Day.”
Switzer acknowledged that “only a lunatic would be proud” of the various land grabs and indigenous holdings that occurred under the British Empire, but also noted the “great common achievements” of the British past, which he saw as threatened by teaching Australians. young people to “feel ashamed of their nation’s British heritage”.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attends the APEC Leaders Dialogue with the APEC Business Advisory Council during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, Friday, November 18, 2022, in Bangkok, Thailand.
(Sakchai Lalit/Pool via Reuters)
“The defeat of Germany and Japan in 1945 comes to mind, but also the export of the rule of law and parliamentary systems to nations around the world,” Switzer wrote.
“It doesn’t matter that if the British hadn’t colonized Australia, another nation would have: the French or the Dutch perhaps, or even the Japanese,” he continued. “It doesn’t matter, either, that Australia has established itself over the ensuing 235 years as one of the world’s leading nations, embracing human values such as the rule of law, freedom and democracy.”
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“National and state governments have made efforts to include and support indigenous peoples and ensure that they are equal before the law in all respects,” he noted. “No one would claim that the treatment of indigenous people in the past was acceptable by today’s standards. But those days are long gone and history cannot be undone.”
Despite significant discontent with the current holiday, Albanese said there is no plan for change, though he noted that it was a “difficult day” for indigenous people.
People take part in the ‘Invasion Day’ rally in Melbourne on January 26, 2023.
(AAP Image/Diego Fedele via Reuters)
The Albanese Labor Party has also planned a referendum that will recognize indigenous peoples in the nation’s constitution and set up a group called Voice to consult on any decisions that may affect Aboriginal lives.
“It’s a great country,” Albanese said of the referendum. “Australia will be even better when we recognize our First Nations people in our constitution.”
Some companies have tried to acknowledge the discontent, with the telecommunications company Telstra Corp LTD offering its employees the day off.
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“For many First Nations peoples, Australia Day…marks a turning point where lives have been lost, culture devalued and connections between people and places destroyed,” the executive director of Australia wrote. Telstra, Vicki Brady, on LinkedIn.
Reuters contributed to this report.
