Protesters are seen during an Invasion Day rally in Melbourne.

Protesters are seen during an Invasion Day rally in Melbourne. Source: AAP

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Protest and celebration as Australia Day marks the moment 'this land changed forever'

Follow along with the SBS News live blog as people from across the country come together to protest, mourn and celebrate on Australia day.

Protesters are seen during an Invasion Day rally in Melbourne.

Protesters are seen during an Invasion Day rally in Melbourne. Source: AAP

Published 26 January 2021 8:45am
Updated 26 January 2021 5:18pm
Source: SBS

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26 Jan 2021 5:17pm
Signing off after a day of protest and celebration
That's all from us today, folks. Thanks for joining us as we brought you moments of protest, mourning and celebration this Australia Day. 

Here's a recap of what happened across the country: 

  • Thousands of people marched in Invasion Day rallies and marches protesting Australia Day and calling for justice for First Nations people, despite warnings over COVID-19 gathering limits. 
  • Five people were arrested in Sydney
    out of a crowd of about 3,000, according to police estimates. There are reports rally organisers registered up to 8,000 QR code check-ins at the protest.
  • At a rally in Melbourne, about 5,000 people separated into groups of 100 to abide by COVID-19 restrictions, with Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe telling the crowd that Indigenous people "need a treaty". 
  • Scores of people also attended rallies in Brisbane, Hobart, the Northern Territory and Perth, with a huge crowd marching from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy to Parliament House in Canberra. 
  • Meanwhile, Prime Minister Scott Morrison delivered his keynote address at a flag-raising and citizenship ceremony in Canberra, marking the day more than 12,000 people became Australian citizens across the country.
  • Opposition leader Anthony Albanese 
    shared his thoughts on the debate around the date of Australia Day
    , proposing a referendum on constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians should be held on 26 January to bridge the “divisive debate”.  
  • Veteran journalist Kerry O'Brien explained why he 
    chose to reject his Australia Day honour
     in an interview on NITV's Sunrise Ceremony broadcast. 
  • New
    Australian of the Year Grace Tame
    voiced her support for moving Australia Day, but said Indigenous voices must be listened to. 
With additional coverage from AAP

26 Jan 2021 4:31pm
Invasion Day rally underway in Perth
An Invasion Day rally has kicked off in Perth, with reports of a huge turnout. 

NITV reporter Sarah Collard is there, and has spoken with Roslyn Bynder, who is with her partner and 18-month-old son. 

"The date should change as a respect for us," Ms Bynder said. 

"Everything changed that day." 

26 Jan 2021 4:21pm
Anthony Albanese calls for referendum to soothe 'divisive debate'
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese
says a referendum on constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians should be held on 26 January
to bridge the “divisive debate” around Australia Day.

“We need to work out ways in which we avoid the divisive debate that has occurred every year around this time, about the choice of date to have our national day,” he told reporters today, adding it's time to have a debate about how to move forward "in a way that truly unites the nation". 

To recap, the polarising date marks the day Captain Arthur Phillip proclaimed British sovereignty on Australian soil in 1788. 

But a growing movement has labelled the occasion "Invasion Day”, identifying it as the beginning of the colonisation of Indigenous Australians.

The Morrison government has stalled on a referendum on constitutional recognition, with Indigenous Affairs Minister Ken Wyatt saying it's "too important [to] rush". 

You can read the full story from my colleague, Tom Stayner, here:

READ MORE

Anthony Albanese calls for 26 January referendum to soothe 'divisive debate' on Australia Day



26 Jan 2021 4:02pm
Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe: 'We need a treaty'
At an Invasion Day rally in Melbourne, Lidia Thorpe, Victoria's first Indigenous representative to the Senate, told the crowd of about 5,000 masked protesters that Australia needs a treaty "to resolve the war that was declared on our people almost 250 years ago". 

"No more bulls*** symbolic gestures," the Gunnai Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman said. 

"No more change the date, no more Uluru Statement, no more Constitutional recognition, no more 'Survival Day'. This is Invasion Day and we need a treaty." 

Senator Thorpe made a similar impassioned call for change to end the injustices experienced by First Nations people in her maiden speech to Parliament last December. 

You can read more about it from my colleague, Tom Stayner, here: 

READ MORE

'It's time to stop looking away': Lidia Thorpe delivers powerful maiden speech renewing calls for a treaty with Indigenous Australians



26 Jan 2021 3:41pm
'We are so happy to be Australian citizens'
Today also marked the moment more than 12,000 people became Australian citizens across the country. 

At a scaled back citizenship ceremony in Canberra, 20 people from ten countries received their citizenship from Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

This included Mahantesh Urolagin, his wife Gayatri and daughters Sonal, 13, and Sejal, 6.

Mr Urolagin said he felt "blessed" to now call Australia home. 

"It's a great pleasure to be a citizen of this country and [I] feel blessed and privileged to get the citizenship and to pledge loyalty to this country is important to us," he told SBS News. 

Mahantesh, Gayatri, Sonal and Sojal at the citizenship ceremony in Canberra.
Mahantesh, Gayatri, Sonal and Sojal at the citizenship ceremony in Canberra. Source: SBS / Ben Patrick / SBS News


Adriana Castaneda, her husband Oswaldo Villarreal and five-year-old daughter Sophia from Colombia said the long citizenship process was worth the wait. 

"The process has been long - it hasn't been easy - but we are so happy to be Australian citizens," Ms Castaneda told SBS News.  

"The quality of life for Australia is amazing. We are so happy to be here - we love our country but Australia has so much to offer to new citizens."

Adriana, Oswaldo and their daughter Sophia at the citizenship ceremony in Canberra.
Adriana, Oswaldo and their daughter Sophia at the citizenship ceremony in Canberra. Source: SBS / Ben Patrick / SBS News
 

26 Jan 2021 2:56pm
'My history is everyone's history'
It's become standard practice to begin events in Australia with Welcome to Country ceremonies, and with a plethora of events happening today, many will be carried out by the end of the day.

The ceremonies see traditional custodians formally welcoming others onto their land, but for Brendan Kerin, it's also an opportunity to make sure the history of Indigenous Australians - and his own story - isn't forgotten.

SBS News reporter Jennifer Scherer spoke with the Marrawarra and Barkindji man about the way he delivers his addresses, which you can read below:

READ MORE

When Brendan performs a Welcome to Country, it's personal



26 Jan 2021 2:45pm
The Egyptian couple providing a social outlet for lonely senior citizens in Melbourne
Egyptian couple Raouf and Souria Youssef have spent their life in Australia working to reduce loneliness in Melbourne's elderly Arabic-speaking community. 

This year, they were among almost
850 people recognised for their service to the community with Australia Day honours
.

Raouf and Souria Youssef with their two sons in Melbourne
Raouf (L) and Souria Youssef (R) with two of their sons in Melbourne Source: SBS / SBS News/John Podolski


“I feel very proud of this [award] but to be honest I am very shy to talk about it," Souria told SBS News ahead of 26 January.

"When I did the work, I didn’t think I would be sitting in front of the camera talking about it."

You can read their full story below, reported by SBS News journalist Lucy Murray. 

READ MORE

The Egyptian couple providing a social outlet for lonely senior citizens in Melbourne



26 Jan 2021 2:15pm
Journalist Kerry O'Brien on why he rejected his Australia Day honour
Veteran journalist Kerry O'Brien has explained why he
chose to reject his Australia Day honour
in an interview on NITV's Sunrise Ceremony broadcast. 

"There is a top-level of award, which is an AC, and one was awarded to Margaret Court who was indisputably one of the great tennis of all time and she was and is Australian," he said. 

"But she was being awarded a medal which I think was promoting her viewpoints which are fundamentally, in my view, prejudicial and harmful and disrespectful to so many people."

READ MORE

Kerry O'Brien has rejected his Order of Australia award in protest against Margaret Court's honour



The former tennis champion has come under fire in recent years for her outspoken views on LGBTQI+ people and same-sex marriage.

"We talk about injustice to Indigenous people, there has been a long term prejudice and injustice to a whole group of people on the basis of their sexuality," O'Brien, who was to be made an Officer of the Order of Australia, continued.

"It's not that Margaret Court doesn't have a right to express her views, you can explain your position without being damaging and hurtful and I see it in a way as a negation of our right to free speech when we use it to hurt others. 

"My problem, in the end, is not so much with Margaret Court as it is with the system that made a judgement that she deserved the highest civil honour in the land, which many people will take, rightly or not, as an endorsement of those views which are so hurtful and so harmful.

"And I felt I couldn't accept the award on that basis."

26 Jan 2021 2:03pm
Thousands march in Brisbane and Melbourne for Invasion Day rallies
Thousands of people have turned out to protest Australia Day in Melbourne and Brisbane, along with smaller events taking place right across the country. Here, photos from the events show the scale of the crowds. 

Melbourne

Protesters marched through Melbourne on Tuesday as part of Invasion Day protests.
More than a thousand protesters marched through Melbourne on Tuesday as part of Invasion Day protests. Source: AAP


Up to 5,000 people have marched in an Invasion Day protest in Melbourne according to police estimates, despite COVID-19 restrictions limiting outdoor gatherings to 100 people. 

The protesters chanted "always was, always will be Aboriginal land" and "no pride in genocide" as they made their way towards Flinders Street in groups of 100. Police told AAP no arrests had been made as of 1pm. 

Brisbane

The Invasion Day rally in Brisbane.
The Invasion Day rally in Brisbane. Source: AAP


Huge crowds also showed up to the Brisbane Invasion Day march, with thousands making their way along the protest route towards Musgrave Park.

A large Aboriginal flag was held by tens of protesters as they moved through the city. There is currently a 100-person cap on outdoor gatherings in the state.

26 Jan 2021 1:19pm
NSW Police confirm five people arrested after largely 'well behaved' protest
NSW Police has confirmed four people were arrested after a "small group of protesters" moved on to Hyde Park after the organisers of the Invasion Day rally in Sydney negotiated with police to hold a socially-distanced rally in The Domain.

Two of the people arrested will be issued with infringement notices in relation to COVID-19 breaches, with the other two charged with hindering police and assault of a police officer, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Michael Willing said in a media conference on Tuesday.

A fifth person was arrested during the rally for disruption of the peace, he added. 

Organisers of the rally had negotiated with police to allow it to go ahead in The Domain, with attendees split into socially-distanced groups of 500. In response, organisers cancelled the planned march throughout the city and called on protesters to leave the area following a number of speeches this morning.

"We reached some agreement with protest organisers, taking into account the heat that is obvious today, the potential disruption to the city and traffic and, indeed, the safety of all persons who are wanting to express their views as part of this protest, to have protest attendees break into groups engage in social distancing as best they possibly could with the assistance of police," Commissioner Willing said.

"That largely occurred and I want to thank the protest organisers for doing what they did to ensure that happened."

Police estimated that between 2,000 and 3,000 people attended the rally. Attendees were "well behaved" with the exception of the small group who were not part of the organised event, the spokesperson said.

26 Jan 2021 12:24pm
Who was Pemulwuy, the 'hero who took on the might of the white man'?
A warrior. A freedom fighter. A real-life action hero.

These are just some of the words used to describe Pemulwuy, but many Australians don't know his story. 

Pemulwuy was an Aboriginal man from Sydney who was on the shores when the British landed in 1788. He would go on to lead a decade-long war of resistance against them.

SBS News reporter Amelia Dunn has reported on his incredible legacy and the push to preserve it, which you can read below:

READ MORE

Pemulwuy: The Aboriginal man who waged a resistance on the British



26 Jan 2021 12:55pm
Some further details on the Sydney arrests
NITV has confirmed some further details of the arrests following the Sydney Invasion Day rally, which saw more than 1,000 people gather peacefully at The Domain. 

They said a woman and a man were arrested at Hyde Park for allegedly breaching health and safety orders as demonstrators dispersed. 

We expect NSW Police to hold a media conference shortly.

26 Jan 2021 12:45pm
Invasion Day events underway in the Territory
Two Invasion Day events have gotten started in the Northern Territory, with approximately 1,000 people gathered in Darwin and a second group in the central desert city of Alice Springs.

The Darwin rally began in Civic Park with protesters now marching through the city for the first time as part of an Invasion Day protest.

26 Jan 2021 12:29pm
At least two protesters arrested after Sydney Invasion Day march
At least two people have been arrested shortly after a peaceful Invasion Day rally in Sydney concluded.

A march throughout the city was cancelled by organisers at the last minute due to concerns over the police response. 

It is as of yet unclear how many people have been apprehended, or what led to the arrests. More to details to come shortly. 

26 Jan 2021 12:20pm
Australian of the Year's powerful message to other survivors of sexual abuse
Newly-awarded Australian of the Year Grace Tame has issued a powerful message to fellow survivors of sexual assault and child sexual abuse: "you are not alone". 

The 26-year-old was recognised on Monday night for her tireless advocacy, particularly her fight to overturn Tasmanian laws preventing sexual assault survivors from being identified.

2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame during the national flag raising and citizenship ceremony.
2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame during the national flag raising and citizenship ceremony. Source: AAP


“Child sexual abuse and sexual assault are issues that are still happening everyday and the buck is stopping with innocent men, women and children and that’s not okay," she told SBS News.

“We still have a lot of work to do."

You can read the full article from my colleague Tom Stayner below:

READ MORE

'You are not alone': Grace Tame's powerful message to other survivors of sexual abuse



26 Jan 2021 11:56am
Sydney Invasion Day rally ends without march
Protest organisers in Sydney have asked attendees to head home after the Invasion Day rally, opting to forgo a planned march across the city.

Organisers said they had decided to cancel the march after negotiating with police to allow more than the permitted 500 people to gather in The Domain,
ABC News
reported. 

NITV journalist Rachael Hocking, who is on the ground at the event, reported that Gomeroi woman Gwenda Stanley said they had been threatened by police if they "took to the streets".

"Instead of allowing them to incite a riot, we've advised everyone to disperse and stay safe," she said.

More than 1,000 people attended the open-air event, despite organisers failing to get an exemption from COVID-19 public health orders for it to go ahead.

Protesters sat peacefully listening to speakers while police officers appeared to remain on the sidelines.

26 Jan 2021 11:40am
Melbourne Invasion Day march kicks off, with groups of 100 protesters
The Melbourne Invasion Day March has begun after a short delay as protest marshals worked to divide the crowd into groups of 100 inline with the state's coronavirus gathering limits.

The groups of 100 protesters, keeping 10 metres apart, are now making their way through the city to Catani Gardens near St Kilda Beach, as they call for the abolition of Australia Day.

More than 3,500 people had clicked attending on a Facebook page for the event. Melbourne traditionally has one of the highest turn-outs for Invasion Day protests, with tens of thousands of people showing up in 2020. 

A Victoria Police spokesperson did not comment on the number of people at the protest. 

The city's traditional Australia Day parade was cancelled due to the pandemic.

26 Jan 2021 11:30am
Invasion Day protests taking place across the country
A number of Invasion Day rallies are well underway across the country despite warnings over coronavirus gathering limits. Here are some photos from the protests.

A protestor is seen attaching an Aboriginal flag to a statue of Queen Victoria in Brisbane's Queens Gardens.
A protestor is seen attaching an Aboriginal flag to a statue of Queen Victoria in Brisbane's Queens Gardens. Source: AAP


A protestor is seen attaching an Aboriginal flag to a statue of Queen Victoria during an Invasion Day event in Brisbane's Queens Gardens.

The Invasion Day rally in The Domain, Sydney.
The Invasion Day rally in The Domain, Sydney. Source: AAP


More than a thousand people gathered peacefully at The Domain in Sydney this morning for an Invasion Day rally. Earlier this week, NSW Police warned that attendees could face fines or arrest if COVID-19 gathering limits were breached.

Protesters are seen during an Invasion Day rally in Melbourne.
Protesters are seen during an Invasion Day rally in Melbourne. Source: AAP


Protesters have also gathered at an Invasion Day march in Melbourne's CBD despite COVID-19 rules limiting outdoor gatherings to 100 people. 

26 Jan 2021 11:13am
Anthony Albanese calls for referendum on constitutional recognition to be held on 26 January
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has shared his thoughts on the debate around the date of Australia's national holiday, proposing that the 26 January should be the day we hold a referendum on the constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians.

"We need to work out ways in which we avoid the divisive debate that has occurred every year around this time, about the choice of date to have our national day," he said.

Leader of the Opposition Anthony Albanese.
Leader of the Opposition Anthony Albanese has called for a referendum on the constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australia to be held on 26 January. Source: AAP


"One of the things that I proposed now three years ago on Australia Day in 2018, was the idea that what we could do perhaps is to consider having the date for the Constitutional recognition of First Australians, have that referendum on 26 January so that truly that was the date in which we could remember our history and our past, but also acknowledge, of course, that it is a very significant day, and that in Australia in 2021, most of us either descendants or directly, people who have come through migration to make modern Australia the great multicultural nation that we are."

He added that it's time to have a debate about how to move forward "in a way that truly unites the nation".

"One that recognises dispossession, but one that also recognises that modern Australia has continued to evolve and will continue to evolve into the future," he said.

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