Monuments defaced as Australians protest, celebrate national day

Melbourne: Two historic statues were damaged in Melbourne ahead of Australia Day celebrations on Sunday, with tens of thousands of people across the country joining protests in support of Aboriginal groups who say the date is not one to cheer.

A statue of colonist John Batman, a founder of the country's second-largest city and who was involved in the killing of Indigenous people, was sawn in half, while a monument commemorating Australian soldiers in World War One was daubed in red paint and the words "land back", according to police and local media reports.

Australia's national day on Jan. 26 is a date of morning for many Indigenous Australians because it marks the day that Captain James Cook landed in Sydney Cove and the beginning of the country's colonisation by the British.

Protesters were also carrying 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 ain’t going nowhere. Like you know, you can try to assimilate all you want, but we’re still here,” Indigenous Australian Amanda Hill said.

In Sydney, the artwork of Wiradjuri-Biripi artist James P. Simon was projected on the sails of the Opera House at one of many dawn reflection events around the country.

Police estimated that 15,000 people took part in protests and music events in Sydney throughout the day. In Melbourne's central business district, police estimated some 25,000 people had taken to the streets.

Speakers at the protests talked about issues important to Aboriginal Australians, including the high numbers of Aboriginal deaths in police custody, missing and murdered Aboriginal women, land rights, and the push to establish a treaty to support Indigenous people.

Efforts by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to establish a constitutional voice for Aboriginal people to parliament was soundly defeated in a 2023 referendum.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said in a post on social media that Australians "shouldn't be afraid of celebrating" their country on Australia Day.

Dutton has said the country must unite under one flag, and that he will remove Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags from government press conferences if he becomes prime minister in an election that must take place by mid-May.