- The Guardian
- Issue #2131
Invasion Day rally attended by about 500 people in Boorloo/Perth on Sunday 26th January 2025.
Naarm/Melbourne
DC
This year’s Invasion Day rally at Naarm/Melbourne was marked with solemnity and hope intertwined. There was fiery gusto among the Aboriginal and Palestinian speakers as this year the 2 communities combined once again to stand in solidarity against the colonisation of both peoples.
Approximately 40,000 people attended the rally at Parliament House, with almost 2 full hours of community contributions before the march. The march proceeded to Federation Square, where yet more figures spoke, sung, and cried. Despite the failure of the Voice Referendum in 2023, the Indigenous peoples of Australia and their allies have been remarkably resilient, and have continued to push forward in support of Indigenous sovereignty.
The rampant brutality by police against Indigenous communities across Australia, including against children and those in custody, has remained as a talking point at these rallies. It is tragic to hear with every passing year a new list of deaths in custody. A stark reminder that there is no justice for Indigenous peoples in the legal system of the colony.
On the other hand, the movement for Truth-telling and Treaty has seen some progress in the past year. Many speakers were happy to relay their successes and personal involvement in the commissions and committees that have been consulting with the state government for the past few years. Earlier in January, the state government finally announced that negotiations for our first state-wide Treaty commence this year, alongside the establishment of a First Peoples Assembly.
Activists and community leaders were eager to relay the importance of these achievements to the crowd. They were just as quick to relay caution, however, as what has been “given” can easily be taken away. The struggle for Indigenous rights will not end with the establishment of a Treaty. In many ways it is just the beginning. In contrast to previous years there was surprisingly less chanting and shouting to be had, midst dour conditions plaguing the world, people are still able to connect and extend solidarity. What we saw was resistance of a different kind. Resistance founded in love.
These stolen lands always were and always will be Aboriginal land. We will not stop until that truth is codified and realised at all levels of our society! The Communist Party of Australia extends its everlasting solidarity to the Indigenous peoples of Australia.
Meanjin/Brisbane
Magandjin/Brisbane.
Thousands gathered in the heart of Meanjin/Brisbane to support Aboriginal Rights. Speakers proudly advocated a “fair go” for Australia’s First Peoples as the longest surviving culture on the planet. Attention was drawn the fact that Queensland’s prosperity was founded on stolen Aboriginal land and stolen Aboriginal wages.
It was made clear that the justice system means injustice for Aboriginal People – white justice but certainly no black justice. Although the Queensland government wants to get rid of “truth telling” legislation, Aboriginal People believe “truth never dies” and we should never forget the frontier wars as part of a history of Aboriginal genocide.
As a magnanimous gesture an invitation was extended to non-Indigenous Australians to walk together with Aboriginal Australians into the future.
Gabi Gabi land/Sunshine Coast
Gabi Gabi Land/Sunshine Coast.
Che Janz
Invasion Day in the Sunshine Coast is always different to how it’s celebrated in the rest of Queensland, especially Magandjin/Brisbane. It’s more personalised, but still shows the wider history of the European invasion of this beautiful series of islands we call Australia. Despite the right-wing press trying to put us down stating our numbers were falling, we once against dispelled the misinformation.
Around 350 people attended the rally and subsequent event in the park. A fraction compared to the state capital naturally, but impressive for such an apolitical-conservative area that is the Sunshine Coast. With around a 15 per cent increases from last year’s rally (my personal ‘guesstimate’) it shows that the numbers are indeed growing.
Other than an angry person dangling an “Australian” national flag picnic blanket and another person who tried doing a lone stampede into the crowd (who was instantly removed by police before he was even 30 yards from us), there were practically zero hecklers.
The event concluded with a free barbeque (organised/ran by the Greens), a small market, a corroboree that welcomed audience participation and some excellent local artists preforming poems, acoustic country music, and an iconic didgeridoo performance.
The program also included a collection of different speakers ranging from citizens to public servants, giving their input on their struggles and individual pushes for Indigenous rights in their own way. The organisers invited a representative for the CPA to speak and I volunteered to do so. I kept it rather brief simply going over the CPA’s continual support for Indigenous liberation since 1931, how we called not just for equal rights but many progressive proposals such as Aboriginal courts/juries to reassess pre-existing/future legal cases.
The day overall meshed activism for the future of first Australians’ rights and prosperity, whilst also being a family friendly event celebrating the world’s oldest continuous culture. Before, during and after the march I was approached numerous times by people enquiring about the CPA.
Gadigal Land/Sydney.
