Celebrations and Protests Mark Australia Day Amidst Political Tensions
On Sunday, people across Australia gathered to both celebrate and protest during Australia Day, highlighting the nation’s contrasting views on Indigenous rights as the country approaches a federal election. This day commemorates the establishment of a British colony at Sydney Cove on January 26, 1788, leading to Britain’s eventual claim over the land without an agreement with its Indigenous population.
For many Indigenous rights activists, January 26 represents “Invasion Day.” As a result, protests have been organized in major cities, with many expressing that the national celebration should not honor such a controversial historical moment. Traditionally, Australia Day is a public holiday. However, since it fell on a Sunday this year, Monday has been designated as the holiday.
Recognizing the pain that Australia Day brings to Indigenous Australians—a group that constitutes about 4% of the population and faces significant disadvantages—some businesses have opted to refer to the occasion as the “January long weekend” instead of the “Australia Day long weekend.” In recent years, Australia Day has often served as the day when new immigrants are granted citizenship in public ceremonies, though some local councils have chosen alternate dates for these due to ongoing controversy.
Since securing victory in the 2022 elections, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor Party has been navigating the varied opinions surrounding Australia Day. In 2023, the government allowed public servants the option to work on Australia Day and take another day off as compensation, reversing a prior ruling from a conservative administration that mandated they stay off the job on January 26 during weekdays.
Peter Dutton, the opposition leader, stated that if his party wins the elections due by May 17, all councils would be instructed to hold citizenship ceremonies on January 26. Dutton remarked that Albanese needs to demonstrate stronger leadership in honoring Australia Day in the face of objections from local leaders.
The opposition leader has criticized Albanese for being non-committal about supporting Australia Day to gain favor with the minor Greens party, which opposes celebrations on this date. Observers, including Dutton, predict that Labor may lose its current majority in Parliament and could require the Greens’ backing to form a minority government.
In response, Albanese accused Dutton of being divisive by not attending Australia Day events in the national capital, opting instead for a citizenship ceremony in Brisbane. The Prime Minister emphasized the importance of bipartisan participation in national celebrations, questioning why a national leader would miss such events.
Frank Bongiorno, a historian from the Australian National University, suggested that both leaders are leveraging Australia Day for political gain while perpetuating divisions related to it. “These figures will insist that they want it to be a day of unity, but they’ll invariably behave in ways that promote disunity around the day. That’s really how culture wars work,” he noted.
The celebration began in Sydney, where the iconic sails of the Opera House were lit at dawn, showcasing artwork by Indigenous painter James P. Simon. In Melbourne, prominent Indigenous activist Gary Foley addressed thousands of demonstrators, asserting that the main hurdle to a brighter future for Australia is “Anglo-Australian racism born of fear and ignorance.” Foley urged attendees to educate others about the true history of Australia and the significance of gathering on this date every year.
The protests in Melbourne and Sydney also saw pro-Palestine activists join anti-Australia Day demonstrators, emphasizing a shared struggle. Palestinian activist Noura Mansour told a crowd in Melbourne that the issues faced by Indigenous Australians and Palestinians are deeply interconnected. “We were never meant to survive … but the fact that we are here over 200 years later, demanding a treaty now, demanding land back, calling for a free Palestine is a miracle,” she stated.
Dutton has criticized Albanese for allegedly fostering divisions within Australia by moving forward with a referendum in 2023 concerning Indigenous rights. Australians ultimately voted against a proposed constitutional amendment that would have created an Indigenous representative body, known as the Voice, to address Parliament on matters affecting Indigenous communities. Dutton also accused the government of diverting attention to Indigenous issues rather than tackling the pressing cost of living crisis brought on by inflation and rising interest rates.
