Tens of thousands protest on Invasion Day
Across the country, tens of thousands took to the streets to protest on Invasion Day. Five thousand in Adelaide, 10,000 in Brisbane, 15,000 in Sydney and an unprecedented 20,000 protesters in Melbourne turned out to mark 26 January as the bloody anniversary of colonial invasion, expropriation and genocide.
In Melbourne, the official Australia Day parade was abolished. After years of mass protests, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews was finally compelled to “shelve” the decrepit event, which has been triumphantly commandeered by protesters ever since they first broke through police lines in 2015.
According to City of Melbourne statistics, attendance at Australia Day celebrations has plummeted in recent years—from 72,000 in 2018 to 12,000 in 2019 and a measly 2,000 in 2020—reflecting a dramatic shift in public attitudes.
Elsewhere around the country, parades, citizenship ceremonies and fireworks displays were either relocated, postponed or cancelled altogether to make way for massive rallies in support of Indigenous rights.
“Australia Day is dead, just like Queen Lizzie”, announced activist and Dunghutti, Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung woman Lizzie Jarrett, speaking at the Sydney demonstration.
Key demands raised at this year’s rallies included the immediate initiation of treaty negotiations, an end to Aboriginal deaths in custody, the implementation of all recommendations of the Bring Them Home report, reparations for members of the stolen generations and raising the age of criminal responsibility.
“It is disgusting that we are the most incarcerated people on Earth”, said young Mununjali man and Socialist Alternative member Will Sim, speaking at the Brisbane rally. “It is disgusting that over half of youth in detention are Indigenous ... Youth detention centres are child torture chambers. This was shown at the infamous Don Dale detention centre, where children were subjected to spit hoods, the banned fold-up restraint and solitary confinement for over 24 hours. How the fuck is Don Dale still open?”
In Melbourne, activists painted their hands blood red—a symbolic accusation of murder against the Australian state. Crowds could be heard chanting: “Too many coppers, not enough justice!” and “No justice, no peace, no racist police!”
This year’s Invasion Day rallies took place during a moment of significant media coverage and social commentary around Indigenous politics. The prospect of a renewed, punitive state intervention into Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory fuelled cynicism towards Labor’s proposed referendum on an Indigenous Voice to parliament.
Speaking at the Melbourne rally, a veteran Black Power activist and stalwart of the 1972 Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Gary Foley, called out the Voice for being purely cosmetic:
“Like lipstick on a pig. It will not address the deep underlying issues that still pervade Australian society.”
In Brisbane, Will Sim called on protesters to see beyond the empty symbolism of the referendum and carry on the grassroots struggle against Indigenous oppression:
“I think we deserve so much more than a voice. I think we deserve liberation. And to get there, we’ll need to fight!”
Australia Day might be dying, but Indigenous oppression is alive and kicking. So is the struggle against it.
