Invasion Day march demands Land Back, while Don Dale activists protest outside barbed wire for third year in a row
Darwin ‘Invasion Day’ protests call for Indigenous empowerment over lands, culture and their children’s future. SEE THE PHOTOS.
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Aboriginal Territorians may have lost their independence, but they have not lost their voice as hundreds gathered in a battle cry for land, culture and their people’s future on Invasion Day.
Three counter-protests to Australia Day celebrations were held in Darwin on January 26, with marches united in the call for ‘land back’, while smaller Invasion Day demonstrations demanded a better future for Indigenous kids.
Kulumbirigin Danggalaba man Leonard May said Friday was about highlighting his people’s survival in the face of colonisation, dispossession and a their loss of autonomy.
“What has been taken from Aboriginal people? We have lost our independence,” Mr May told the crowd of hundreds at Civic Park.
His daughter and Uprising of the People chief executive Mililma May said the past 12-months had seen a continuation of the “violence of colonialism” locally, and internationally with the ongoing bombardment of Gaza.
“Colonialism is murdering us, destroying our land, breaking apart our families and erasing our languages,” Ms May said.
She said campaigns to stop Lee Point, Middle Arm Gas Hub and the Barossa gas pipeline were ultimately about empowering Indigenous people.
“Climate Justice is youth justice,” she said.
“Climate Justice, when led by Traditional Owners and when led by Aboriginal people is justice for Indigenous people.
“Caring for Country shifts the victim mentality from our young black people, creating them to be warriors.”
A second protest was held outside one of Australia’s most infamous barbed wire fences, with 30 people demonstrating at Don Dale Detention Centre calling for its closure and for meaningful investment in diversion and alternatives to custody.
Royal Darwin Hospital pediatrician Dr Paul Bauert said the majority of kids locked in the cells behind him had cognitive impairments, yet they were only diagnosed after spending “months in hell”.
The “revolving door” of Don Dale was confirmed by the latest Productivity Commission data, which said 80 per cent of NT kids ended up back behind bars within 12 months — the highest rate in the country.
Stolen Generation descendant Aunty Barbara Nasir said she recognised the pain and intergenerational trauma that shaped many of the incarcerated children’s lives.
“I suspect many of them are descendants of Stolen Generation, just like me, and all my children, and all my grandchildren,” Ms Nasir said.
“You can’t lock people up and not give them the hope.”
IN PICTURES: TOP END INVASION DAY
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Originally published as Invasion Day march demands Land Back, while Don Dale activists protest outside barbed wire for third year in a row
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