‘Invasion Day’ protesters say the country ‘doesn’t deserve a day of celebration’ as tens of thousands cheer on at Melbourne protest march
- Thousands of protesters are gathering in capital cities for ‘Invasion Day’ rallies
- The biggest rallies are set to start at Victorian Parliament and Redfern in Sydney
- Activists at Melbourne declared Australia wasn’t ‘mature enough’ to celebrate
- One shouted ‘f*** Australia, hope it burns to the ground’ during a speech
- Protesters are waving indigenous flags and holding ‘Change the date’ placards
- Right-wing activists have been gathering at a Melbourne citizenship ceremony
By Nic White and Stephen Gibbs
Aboriginal activists declared Australia didn’t deserve a day of celebration and hoped the country ‘burns to the ground’ at a Melbourne rally.
They then marched down Bourke Street chanting ‘always was, always will be Aboriginal land’, ‘no pride in genocide’ and ‘our land, our law’.
Tarneen Onus-Williams told the crowd of thousands ‘f**k Australia, hope it burns to the ground’ during one of many speeches, according to the Herald Sun.
The rally organiser earlier accused broadcaster Neil Mitchell of being a racist during an awkward interview on live radio.
Elder Tony Birch said Australia was ‘not mature enough’ to celebrate itself – even if the date was moved from January 26.
‘This country does not deserve a day of national celebration in any capacity,’ he said.
The rally organiser earlier accused broadcaster Neil Mitchell of being a racist during an awkward interview on live radio
Hundreds of police looked out over the protest, ready to suppress any violent clashes between protesters and far-right activists.
Protesters waving indigenous flags, some wearing face paint and holding placards with ‘change the date’ messages, marched on the Victorian Parliament.
Other slogans included ‘colonisation’, ‘justice’, ‘we are still here’, ‘sovereignty’, and ‘day of mourning’.
Ms Onus-Williams told The Australian the Melbourne protest was not only just intended to be part of the ‘change the date’ campaign.
‘People think just change the date and it’s going to be fine,’ Ms Onus-Williams told the publication.
‘People say they’re celebrating a great country. Celebrating a great country – Australia – has come at a loss for so many people, especially Aboriginal people.
‘Most people who think this is a great country are white people.’
In Sydney a large group including former Sydney Swans stars Adam Goodes and Michael O’Loughlin gathered at inner-city Redfern’s The Block and marched to nearby Victoria Park.
Organiser Ken Canning from Fighting In Resistance Equally hoped the Sydney Invasion Day rally would draw attention to indigenous deaths in custody.
He was grateful for the support of non-Aboriginal Australians and hoped to engage with the general public through the march.
‘Our political spectrum around the country, except for maybe the Greens party… ignore the calls of Aboriginal people,’ he said.
Elsewhere in Melbourne, a handful of right-wing activists including high-profile demonstrator Neil Erikson was protesting outside a citizenship ceremony.
The six men wearing flags and handing out flyers to new migrants were barred from entering the ceremony at Coburg town hall in Melbourne’s north on Friday.
Mr Erikson said the men were protesting the council’s decision to remove the phrase ‘Australia Day’ from the official citizenship ceremony.
Ms Onus-Williams clashed with Neil Mitchell on Tuesday while she was on 3AW radio to promote the protest.
The tension kicked off when Mitchell asked he if her protest group would cooperate with the police or council to minimise disruption.
‘Yeah look, we are asserting our sovereign right to walk on our country because we are sovereign people to this land. At the moment we’re not organising with police,’ Ms Onus-Williams said.
‘So people can do things the way they like, and we like to do things we like to do.’
In Sydney a large group including former Sydney Swans stars Adam Goodes and Michael O’Loughlin gathered at inner-city Redfern’s The Block and marched to nearby Victoria Park
Mitchell asked Ms Onus-Williams if that meant she ignored ‘white man’s law’.
‘On that basis you can say the aboriginal people can do whatever they like and just ignore the law of the land,’ he said.
Ms Onus-Williams replied saying ‘we have a law of the land already, we do hold our values strong to our heart’.
She refused to answer questions about Koorie Youth Council using taxpayer money to promote the rally and said it was protesting the abolition of Australia Day, not just pushing for the date to be moved.
Mitchell cut in saying: ‘you’re happy to interview yourself, but that’s not the way it works’.
The interview descended into chaos when Ms Onus-Williams said she would not ‘take orders’ from Mitchell.
‘I won’t take orders from a radio host on a racist radio channel,’ she said.
A shocked Mitchell said, ‘did you just call me a racist?’ to which Ms Onus-Williams replied, ‘Yes, I called you a racist’.
‘You’re questioning my legitimacy as a sovereign person of this land,’ she said.
Mitchell told her he was offended by the accusation, saying it was ‘ugly to throw around the word racist’.
‘I’m questioning you not because you’re black or yellow or white, but because you’re in a position organising a rally which is significant to this town around a significant issue which is the future of Australia Day,’ he said.
‘It does not make me racist to ask you a bloody question and to call me a racist is damn offensive.
‘Please please please don’t assume that questioning equates with racism, that really is quite offensive intellectually and morally.’
full story at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5314659/Activist-says-f-Australia-Invasion-Day-rally.html