Survival Day demands decolonisation – Brisbane
Today on the 26th January 2025, in Butchulla country as well as across all of Australia, Survival day celebrations and ceremonies were held by Indigenous Australians and their allies.
The particular one I attended had a sunrise memorial service paying tribute to the survival of the First Peoples against Colonialism and continued occupation.
There were reflections on previous struggles like the Waterloo Creek Massacre and the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.
There was also music and dance richly steeped in culture and tradition.
The ceremony was not only a solemn reflection on the past suffering and resistance to colonialism by the Indigenous, but an energetic show of resistance to the ongoing settler-colonial oppression and subjugation of Indigenous Australians.
Sydney Invasion Day march against genocide
Voices quiet and roaring, young and old, female and male, marked the January 26 Invasion Day speeches in Sydney.
The younger generations are rising and organising They began threads echoed by others, that struggle must be every day of the year, not just one, that genocide continues. They spoke of intergenerational trauma, but say, ‘We’re still here!’
One young woman’s tiny daughter, spoke in language to the crowd. Unlike her mother, English is her second language. That cultural rebirth, that underpinning strength, was also a thread.
Wangan and Jagalingou have been fighting the Adani mine for a decade. Their representative, Adrian Burragubba, spoke of his and other First Peoples arising ‘from our rivers, from our water’.
‘Don’t worry about Dutton,’ he said. ‘He’s a nobody. He’s not a patriot.’ The real patriots are those who’ve fought for their lands since British invaders came ashore.
Corporations came under attack as inheritors and beneficiaries of invasion.
Melbourne rallies around Invasion Day solidarity
A militant rally in the heart of Melbourne brought together a huge crowd of First Peoples and their allies in the on-going struggle against imperialist domination with all its colonial laws and other relics, and its racist oppression.
It was led and organised by the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance (WAR) with the theme “End colonialism – Smash imperialism”.
While the media conceded 25,000 in attendance, a more realistic estimate would be at least 45,000 and predominately young people. Many brought their own placards and banners, carried the Aboriginal Flag and frequently chanted, “Always was, always will be – Aboriginal Land!” and “No pride in Genocide!”
Very prominent at throughout the crowd were the supporters of the Palestinian people, with their Palestinian flags and proudly wearing the Keffiyeh scarf. The usual Sunday rally in solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggle was merged with the annual Invasion Day rally, with the strong support of each.
This was reflected in the speeches outside Parliament House where both Indigenous speakers and Palestinian speakers recognised the commonality of their situation – dispossession and land theft, genocide, racism, on-going oppression and discrimination, attacks on children and indiscriminate jailing of the youth.
Adelaide Survival Day: with the masses and against the masses.
The Adelaide Survival Day march was a resounding success.
This was despite an attempt by SA Labor Premier to dismiss discussion of the appropriateness of January 26 as “Australia Day” as “becoming ‘tired’, and that Australians should have a chance ‘to reflect on how lucky we are to live here’”.
Prominent Survival Day organsier Natasha Wanganeen said on Facebook that the Premier “has now targeted our event. He didn’t have to talk on survival day, he gave the trolls a target & its us. Putrid behaviour from a so called leader.”
Several thousand people rallied to commemorate Survival Day and marched through the city.
In contrast, a tiny group of Nazis marched to the War Memorial on North Terrace, chanting “Australia for the white man!” Between thirty to forty of the fascists desecrated the steps of the Memorial which includes commemoration of Australians who died during the War Against Fascism.
Their organisation, the National Socialist Network, only has a handful of members in SA. To try and disguise this, Nazis were flown in from other states. Perhaps the Australian Federal Police might be interested in who the group is funded by, including US and European fascist organisations.
