Numbers drop off at ‘Invasion Day’ rallies in Sydney, Brisbane

Annual events protesting against Australia Day have had a noticeable drop in attendance, with rallies being infiltrated by alleged neo-Nazis.

Protesters at a 2019 'Invasion Day' rally in Melbourne, left, and at the same location this year, right. Picture: Alex Coppel/David Crosling

Australia Day advocates have celebrated a massive drop off in attendance at annual rallies organised by Aboriginal activist groups protesting against the holiday, claiming Australians have finally been granted permission “to be proud of the Australia they know and love”.

Tens of thousands of protesters gathered across the nation on Sunday morning to unite against the “genocide” of Aboriginal people after colonisation, and demand that Australian land be “returned” to its traditional owners.

But while the yearly rallies shut down busy streets in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, early estimates indicated some protests had seen about half the numbers of previous years.

One police officer at the Sydney rally told The Australian about 8000 people marched from Belmore Park to Victoria Park in Camperdown, compared to upwards of 15,000 in previous years.

In Melbourne, about 25,000 people attended the protest - which began at Parliament House and concluded on Flinders Street - down from 35,000 last year.

The ‘Survival Day’ rally in Brisbane also saw a marked drop off in attendees, with the rally confined to Queens Gardens when it had previously drawn tens of thousands of protesters.

Sydney protesters marched through the CBD.

“What’s happening is that Australians want to be proud of Australia,” Australia Day advocate Warren Mundine said. “This is why the crowds are getting smaller, because people are suddenly realising they like this country. It is a great country.”

Mr Mundine said there was a “global blowback” where people had become “sick and tired” of being “bullied”. “What is happening is typical of the left - they go one step too far,” he said.

Opposition Indigenous Affairs spokesperson Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said Australians “have so much to be proud of and we must not take it for granted”.

“It is incredibly heartening to see the decrease in attendance at anti-Australia Day rallies and the increase in support for celebrating our national day on January 26 shown by recent polls,” she told The Australian.

“It is clear that Australians are beginning to understand they have permission to say what they think, and to be proud of the Australia they know and love.”

Palestinian and Aboriginal activists united at this year’s ‘Invasion Day’ events, waving both flags and yelling anti-police and anti-government chants.

In Sydney, one sign hoisted in the air labelled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “child killer”. “Genocide here, genocide there,” the group chanted while marching. “Albanese doesn’t care.”

Activist Paul Silva, addressing the crowd in Sydney, demanded the government be abolished and the land “returned” to Aboriginal Australians, claiming leaders are trying to “extinct” Indigenous people.

“They are trying to extinct us, but guess what? We are here baby and we’re are not f..king going nowhere,” he said, to cheers from the audience. “They could f..king chuck an atomic bomb over here and we’d still f..king rise up.”

He called for Australians to “abolish the government, abolish the system, return the land back to Aboriginal people”.

Other speakers told the audience that “sovereignty was never ceded” and labelled Senator Price a “sellout”.

“We don’t claim you, and you are not our spokesperson,” one young woman said.

Protesters gather at the Flinders Street in Melbourne. Picture: Getty.

In Melbourne, Palestinian rally organiser Tasnim Sammak told the crowd the first prisoner exchange deal in the Middle East was forced upon Israel because it couldn’t defeat “the Palestinian resistance”.

“The Zionist regime insisted on freeing their hostages through a military attack against all international law and it is only now, 15 months later, that they have bowed to the will of the Palestinians,” she said.

“They have bowed down to the Palestinian resistance.”

Ms Sammak urged the crown not to vote for Opposition Leader Peter Dutton at the upcoming federal election.

It comes as large groups of alleged neo-Nazis crashed the protests in Adelaide and Melbourne.

A group of about 70 neo-Nazis also gathered at Melbourne Park, opposite the entrance of the Australian Open, to host a counter protest to ‘Invasion Day’.

The group reportedly included Jacob Hersant, who became the first person in Victoria to be charged with performing a Nazi salute – six days after the gesture was outlawed.

The Australian has approached Victoria Police for comment.

A ‘Survival Day’ protest at the North Terrace in Adelaide’s CBD was also infiltrated by alleged neo-Nazis on Sunday morning, with a number of arrests being made by police.

Footage from the scene showed a group alleged National Socialist Network (NSN) members dressed in black being arrested by police at the park.

“The individuals are in the process of being charged and more details will be provided when known,” an SA Police spokesperson said.

SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens warned police would take a “very strong position” in relation to right-wing extremist protests.

“The issue with protest activity associated with right-wing extremism … we’ll be taking a very strong position in relation that, there are special powers that permit us to take action for anyone who displays, publishes or brandishes a Nazi symbol or displays the Nazi salute and we will take … action should we identify any behaviour of that type,” Commissioner Stevens said.