‘A day to mourn’: thousands protest against Australia Day national holiday

Backlash to Invasion Day' grows on annual commemoration of arrival of British fleet in Sydney in 1788

Thousands of Australians protested against the anniversary of British colonisation on Friday, with large crowds across the country calling for Australia Day to be moved and for a day of mourning to instead be held on what they call Invasion Day".

Speeches in major cities highlighted anger and despair over high Indigenous incarceration rates, deaths in custody and the forced removal of First Nations children from their families. The rallies come months after the proposal for an Indigenous voice to parliament was overwhelmingly defeated at a national referendum.