Invasion Day rally rife with anti-Australia sentiment
More than 35,000 Invasion Day protesters from both the Indigenous and Palestinian cause have gathered in Melbourne’s CBD on January 26.
Invasion Day protesters have desecrated Australian flags and unfurled a banner imploring people to “kill the Australian in your head” on the country’s national holiday in Melbourne.
About 35,000 protesters gathered outside state parliament on January 26, a day the rally’s organisers describe as an “annual reminder of invasion, occupation and genocide”.
Aboriginal and Palestinian supporters came together to combine their causes, with some protesters holding signs with the Palestinian mantra “from the river to the sea” written alongside the Aboriginal motto “always was, always will be (Aboriginal land)”.
Free Palestine Melbourne, the group behind the weekly pro-Palestine marches in the CBD, told their followers that there would be no protest this Sunday and to instead join in on Invasion Day.
The crowd gathered for more than two hours to hear from elders and Indigenous activists who spoke on a range of issues including treaty, land rights and Aboriginal deaths in custody.
Some anti-Australia Day supporters held signs that read “kill the Australian in your head”, a possible reference to the phrase “kill the cop in your head”.
After learning of the banner, Victorian deputy Liberal leader David Southwick said he was “so sick of people telling us we should be ashamed to be Australian”.
“Everyone has a right to free speech, but if people resort to violent rhetoric to demonstrate their beliefs, then their beliefs have no currency,” he said.
“If Labor wants to change the date of Australia Day, they should be upfront about it, rather than leaving us feeling guilty to celebrate our national day.”
Other signs had phrases such as “abolish Australia” and “the colony will fall” written on them, the latter of which being the same message that was spray painted on the Captain Cook monument that was sawn off in St Kilda on Thursday night.
Victoria Police told this masthead that while it was aware that banners may be offensive to some members of the community, they do not always constitute a criminal offence.
On the sidelines of the event, a small group of protesters were seen scheming to burn the Australian flag. One woman was observed spraying deodorant over the flag, while a man used a cigarette lighter to set it alight.
Two other protesters were also seen ripping apart another Australian flag before throwing it to the ground. Wurundjeri Elder Bill Nicholson, after his Welcome to Country, told the gathering that Australia had been settled by “devil worshippers”.
“The government gains its authority from rape, murder and theft. What sort of sovereignty is that? The authority they have imposed over Aboriginal land for two centuries doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
Prominent Indigenous activist Gary Foley said this year’s ”Invasion Day” was historic due to the shared struggle with the Palestinian people.
“We have invited our Palestinian brothers and sisters to be here today as an act of solidarity,” Mr Foley told the crowd.
“The Palestinian people are dispossessed in the same we are. The Palestinian people have been invaded and occupied.”
Mr Foley invited Nasser Mashni, the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network president, to speak to the group.
“No coloniser has ever looked at the people that they colonised as human beings … they look at us as someone or something to take advantage of, to kill, to steal, to murder and to rape,” Mr Mashni said.
“I recognise that whilst I’m indigenous there, I’m a settler here,” the APAN president added.
He attacked Warren Mundine and opposition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, telling them to “tear off the clothes of the coloniser and come back to your people”.
More Coverage
Thousands of Invasion Day protesters are marching through Melbourne’s CBD. @australianpic.twitter.com/Lyj7c0S1sY
— Tricia Rivera (@tricialeerivera) January 26, 2024
New set, new host … but not much has changed at the ABC’s Media Watch
Paul Barry’s successor Linton Besser signalled that, as it has in the past, MediaWatch will continue to attempt to keep journalists contained within Green Left ideological guard rails.
Interest added to Covid refunds
Thousands of people will be paid interest on top of refunds they receive from the NSW government for ‘invalid’ Covid fines issued during the pandemic but cancelled on legal advice.