AUSTRALIA marked its national day today, with the usual public holiday celebrations accompanied by nationwide protests against what aboriginal rights advocates call “Invasion Day.”

A British colony was established at Sydney Cove on January 26 1788, which eventually led to Britain claiming the entire country without a treaty with its indigenous inhabitants.

In Melbourne, indigenous activist Gary Foley told thousands of protesters who had gathered at the steps of the state legislature that the greatest obstacle to a better future for the country was “Anglo-Australian racism born of fear and ignorance.”

He said: “We need to gently educate those who are not here today about the true nature of Australian history and why it is every year we gather here on this occasion.”

Pro-Palestine activists joined anti-Australia Day protesters in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia’s largest cities.

Palestinian Noura Mansour told a cheering crowd in Melbourne that the plights of aboriginal Australians and Palestinians were intertwined.

“We were never meant to survive … but the fact that we are here over 200 years later, demanding a treaty now, demanding land back, calling for a free Palestine, is a miracle,” she said.

Ahead of the protests, statues of colonist John Batman and of World War I Australian soldiers were damaged.

Australia Day has traditionally included citizenship ceremonies for immigrants, but several local government councils have chosen to hold the ceremonies on different dates due to the controversy over its significance.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labour government has attempted to accommodate differing views of Australia Day since it took power in 2022.

In 2023, it allowed public servants to work on Australia Day and take another day off instead, reversing a prior conservative policy requiring observance of the holiday on January 26.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has said that all councils will be required to hold citizenship ceremonies on January 26 if his party wins elections due by May 17.

He has accused Mr Albanese of appeasing the Green Party, which opposes celebrations on January 26, and of fostering division by focusing on indigenous rights rather than addressing economic challenges.

Many observers expect Labour to lose its parliamentary majority at the next election, which could result in the party forming a minority government with Green support.