Australia Day protesters support Aboriginal groups, deface statues
Tens of thousands of people across the country joined protests in support of Aboriginal groups, who say the date is not one to celebrate
Two historic statues were damaged in Melbourne ahead of Australia Day celebrations on Sunday, with tens of thousands of people across the country joining protests in support of Aboriginal groups who say the date is not one to celebrate.
A statue of colonist John Batman, a founder of the country’s second-largest city and who was involved in the killing of Indigenous people, was sawn in half, while a monument commemorating Australian soldiers in the first world war was daubed in red paint and the words “land back”, according to police and local media reports.
Australia’s national day on January 26 is a date of mourning for many Indigenous Australians because it marks the day that Captain Arthur Philip landed in Sydney Cove and the beginning of the country’s colonisation by the British.
Protesters were also carrying Palestinian flags, and speakers spoke of similarities between Aboriginal and Palestinian experiences.
“Invasion day. It’s just about the survival of our people. We’re still here. We ain’t going nowhere. Like you know, you can try to assimilate all you want, but we’re still here,” Indigenous Australian Amanda Hill said.
In Sydney, the artwork of Wiradjuri-Biripi artist James P. Simon was projected on the sails of the Opera House at one of many dawn reflection events around the country.
