Crowds have gathered at Hobart’s Parliament Lawns and Devonport’s Market Square for annual Australia Day protests.
Thousands joined the Invasion Day march in the capital, rallying to support First Nations people and calling for the national holiday to be moved from January 26.
Nala Mansell from the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre told the crowd it was ‘shameful’ that the Aboriginal community’s “stolen lands” remain under the ownership of others.
“In 2005 we got Cape Barren Island returned but we’ve had absolutely nothing since,” Mansell said.
“You can donate money, no matter how big or small, so that the Aboriginal community can purchase back our own stolen lands and show this weak, gutless government that we have a right to our lands.”
Aboriginal man Thomas Riley spoke about the importance of respecting differences within communities. He said to “call us all the same” was disrespectful and “an attempt to wipe out our existence”.
“We are the original people of this country. If you do not acknowledge us and our past, you have no country,” he said.
“I believe the only way forward … is to not force celebrations in the face of those who have lost so much from the day that the loss began.”
“To change the date is to acknowledge the past and allow a celebration that may be accepting of everybody. It doesn’t rewrite history, it allows the respectful writing of our combined future.”
Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds took the stage after being praised by Mansell for her “key role” in the removal of the “dirty, terrible Crowther statue” from Franklin Square.
Reynolds said she would continue to fight for a date change and take “positive and progressive steps locally” through her role on the council.
“It’s shocking to me that more Australians and indeed more leaders don’t see how unfair and mean it is to celebrate our nation’s spirit on the day that a violent colonisation of a First People began,” Reynolds said.
“No other colonial country in the world does something so jarring, so insensitive and so intentionally divisive.”
Reynolds also acknowledged that future local progress might not align with what’s happening nationally.
“When we stand together and we work together, we can do important things locally that can lead the way nationally,” she said.
“We can make progress locally even while we might see backwards steps happening nationally and internationally.”
Protesters ended the event with pro-Palestinian chants, including: “Say it clear, say it loud. Palestine you do us proud” and “In our thousands, in our billions, we are all Palestinians.”
