Some Australians were in no mood to celebrate the country’s national day on Sunday, having long seen it as a reminder of colonial oppression. A few protesters took that antipathy a step further – vandalizing statues of British settlers and the King of England.
The damage in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra was a fresh sign that Australia Day, which commemorates when a British fleet sailed into Sydney Harbor to start a penal colony in the late 18th century, remains divisive.
Even as some Australians celebrate the holiday with barbeques and pool parties, critics note that it is rooted in centuries of indigenous oppression. Some prefer to call it invasion day or survival day, and make their discontent known through protests or other actions.
In Sydney this week, the statue Captain James Cookwho claimed part of the Australian continent for the British crown in 1770, was dipped in red paint. The hand and nose were also cut off. The statue was restored after it faced a similar attack last year.
In Melbourne, a monument John Batman, the explorer who settled the city on the lands occupied by the aborigines, was demolished and destroyed early Saturday. Protesters in Melbourne also sprayed the words “land back” at a memorial for Australian soldiers who died fighting in World War I.
And on Sunday in Canberra, the capital, there was graffiti on a statue of King George V. “The colony is falling,” someone wrote on its base in red paint.
Australian officials condemned the vandalism.
“We should find it in our services and in our thoughts to respect differences of opinion, but not allow it to become ugly,” he said. Jacinta Allanstate premier of Victoria, According to the report to the television station 9News.
Police representatives in the states of Victoria and New South Wales said Sunday afternoon that no arrests or charges had been made in connection with the vandalism in Sydney and Melbourne. Canberra police did not immediately respond to an inquiry.
People have been protesting on Australia Day for decades. The recent protests were Underpinned by the global Black Lives Matter movementin which people in the United States, Britannia and elsewhere the fallen statues they saw as symbols of racism and oppression.
Last year there was a statue of Captain Cook in Melbourne Kicked out on the ankleand the monument to King George V was torn apart.
Many Australian officials are keenly aware of their country’s racist colonial past and are not afraid to say so publicly. In one example, the City of Melbourne website has a section on “attending to the truth“It speaks to the development” of a shared understanding of the impact of colonization and dispossession on Aboriginal peoples. “
But just acknowledging historical injustices is not enough for some indigenous activists. That was clear when King Charles III visited Australia last year.
“You are not our king,” a voice rang out shortly after Charles, who retains the ceremonial title of head of state in the former British colony, finished addressing parliament. “Give us back our land. Give us what you stole from us. “
The voice belonged to Lidia Thorpe, an indigenous senator and Aboriginal rights activist. As she was rushed from the chamber by security guards, she accused the British colonizers of genocide and demanded that Britain make a treaty with Australia’s indigenous population.
The king watched cheekily from the stage.
