‘Invasion Day’: Jesinta Franklin’s Australia Day backflip

Jesinta Campbell, wife of AFL legend Buddy Franklin, appears to have reversed her opinion on Australia Day

Jesinta Franklin, wife of AFL legend Buddy Franklin, appears to have reversed her opinion on Australia Day, issuing a scathing condemnation of the holiday despite having once celebrated it.

On Thursday, the Aussie model, 32, denounced the national day as a celebration of colonisation.

She shared a series of posts by anti-Australia Day campaigners, the first of which had the words “Australia Day” crossed out, replaced by “Invasion Day”.

Jesinta Franklin has voiced her opposition to Australia Day for several years. Picture: Instagram.

She is the wife of AFL legend Buddy Franklin. Picture: Instagram.

“The coming of one race at the expense of another,” the post read.

“Will you learn the proper place names of the land you live on? Once you’ve done this, look into events they hold on this date/all year round. Go to them. Surround yourself in the culture.”

Finally, Ms Franklin re-posted a graphic that read: “Australia is the only country that marks colonisation as their national day.”

Ms Franklin shared a post opposing Australia Day. Picture: Instagram.

“Will you learn the proper place names of the lands you live on?”. Picture: Instagram.

Australia Day, observed each year on January 26, marks the landing of the First Fleet in 1788 when the first governor of the British colony of New South Wales, Arthur Philip, hoisted the Union Jack at Sydney Cove.

But for many First Nations people, it is regarded as “Invasion Day” or the “Day of Mourning”, in recognition of the bloody history of Australian colonisation. Many Australians believe the date should be changed or the holiday abolished.

She says her opposition to Australia Day began after hearing her husband’s experiences of racism. Picture: Instagram.

Ms Franklin has been a prominent anti-Australia Day campaigner for several years, but it’s a significant reversal from 2014, when she posed in an Australian flag bikini to celebrate.

The model penned an essay in Stellar magazine in 2021 sharing the reasons behind the shift — particularly having learnt more about the racism experienced by her husband, Sydney Swans star Lance “Buddy” Franklin, who has Noongar-Wajuk heritage.

“I have seen my husband well up when talking about his mum and how she used to have to run away with her siblings when they knew the government trucks were coming to take them away from their parents,” Ms Franklin wrote.

“While I had read and learnt about the horrors of Australia’s past, it wasn’t until I listened to the pain endured from someone close to me that I began to deeply feel the importance of changing the date.”

The passages refer to the Stolen Generations — Indigenous children who were forcibly removed from their families by the government from the 1800s right through to the 1970s.

Jesinta wearing an Australian flag bikini on Australia Day weekend in 2014. Picture: Instagram.

Buddy has referred to January 26 as Survival Day. Picture: Instagram.

Buddy, meanwhile, has referred to January 26 as “Survival Day”.

“The pain is real and the pain is still raw for Aboriginal people,” he wrote in 2019.

“My Pop was stolen from the back of a ute and brought to a mission at the tender age of 4.

“My thoughts are with my Mum and her brothers and sisters that were sent to the back of the classroom because they are Aboriginal and not given the right to a fair education”.

“Please be kind with your words and please be kind in your actions,” he continued.

“Thank you to all the amazing friends we have all around the world, your cultures, beliefs and kind hearts enrich my life and my children’s lives.”