Monuments desecrated while Australians protest, celebrate the National Day writes Reuters
From Melanie Burton
Melbourne (Reuters) – Two historical statues were damaged in Melbourne on the eve of the Australia Day celebration on Sunday, and tens of thousands of people across the country joined the protests in support of the Aboriginal groups saying that this date is not a day to cheer.
Statue of the colonist John Batman, the founder of the second largest city in the country and participated in the killing of the native population, was halved, while the monument was in memory of the Australian soldiers in the First World War coated with the red color and the “return of land”, according to the Police Police local media.
On January 26, the National Day of Australia is a morning day for many indigenous Australians because it marks the day when Captain James Cook disembarked at the Sydney Cove and the beginning of the colonization of the country by the British.
The protesters also wore 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’re not going anywhere. As you know, you can try to assimilate as much as you want, but we’re still here,” Australian native Amanda said.
In Sydney, the artwork of Wiradjuri-Biripi artist James P. Simon is projected on the sail of opera (Nasdaq 🙂 House at one of the many events of thinking about dawn across the country.
Police estimated that 15,000 people had participated in protests and music events in Sydney during the day.
Police estimate that about 25,000 people came to the streets of Melbourne.
The speakers on protests spoke about issues important for the Australian Aboriginals, including a large number of Aboriginal deaths in the police custody, the disappeared and killed Aboriginal women, the right to the country and the effort to establish an agreement for the support of the native people.
The efforts of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to establish a constitutional right to vote by Aboriginal in Parliament were seriously defeated in the 2023 referendum.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton said in a social network post that the Australians “should not be afraid of celebrations” of their country on Australia’s day.
Dutton said that the Earth had to unite under one flag and that it would remove the flags of Aborigines and the islanders of Torres’s strait from the Government’s press conferences if he became Prime Minister in the elections to be held until mid -May.
