Australia Day celebrations have clashed with protests throughout the nation's major cities with debate over whether to change the date stealing the spotlight.
Thousands packed Melbourne's Swanson Streeton on Thursday to celebrate the national holiday only to be replaced shortly after by others marching in protest.
The crowd swelled to an estimated 10,000 as it approached Flinders Street station while Wurundjeri elder Aunty Joy Murphy used her Welcome to Country Ceremony to call for a new date that would make all Australians feel included.
Similar scenes took place in Fremantle, where debate over the January 26 date reached fever pitch.
After bumping its Australia Day festivities by two days, Freemantle Council came under fire from both Premier Colin Barnett and Opposition Leader Mark McGowan.
"Aboriginal people are now recognised on Australia Day at events throughout our country," Mr Barnett told reporters.
Mr McGowan said the council's move was a mistake but he wouldn't "abuse them over it".
Queensland's premier also defended the date as 1000 people marched through Brisbane's streets in opposition.
Annastacia Palaszczuk said the national holiday was a "wonderful day" to celebrate what it means to be Australian and there was no need for it to be moved.
"I think that as long as we acknowledge the past, recognise the past, Australia Day has been embraced ... as a day of national celebration," she said in Townsville.
In Sydney, thousands of revellers gathered at a plethora of events around the city to mark the 229th anniversary of the First Fleet's landing, including a concert headlined by Tina Arena, Guy Sebastian and The Wiggles.
Yet just a few kilometres away thousands of indigenous Australians and their supporters marched through the city, demanding Australia's national day be moved from January 26, which they referred to as "Invasion Day".
The march turned violent when a heated scuffle erupted between police and several protesters after an Australian flag was allegedly set alight.
An officer and a woman sustained injuries and a 20-year-old man was arrested and taken to Redfern police station for questioning.
Celebrations in Adelaide also came to a halt when several hundred protesters twice blocked the route of the parade down King William Street.
A less disruptive protest took place in Canberra where hundreds marched to Parliament House chanting "Always was, always will be Aboriginal land".
The Canberra protest sent a message that many indigenous people rejected a proposal for constitutional recognition in favour of a treaty.
Thousands of new citizens were made across Australia on Thursday, hailing from hundreds of countries around the world.
