The January 26 national holiday is anything but a day of rest. Australians will mourn, protest, celebrate, and work business as usual to mark the day 235 years ago that the British empire laid claim to Aboriginal sovereign land. While the public is split on Australia Day, Invasion Day, a change of date, and no celebration at all, Crikey takes a look at what’s on tomorrow around the country.
In major capital cities, tens of thousands are expected to march in Invasion Day rallies that will double as a platform to campaign against a Voice to Parliament. Organisers will call for treaty and sovereignty rather than constitutional recognition, with the latter coined a product of colonisation.
On Gadigal land in Sydney, the annual Yabun Festival will be in full swing. Meaning “music to a beat”, the gathering will take place under the banner of “celebrate survival… resist invasion… continue culture” and features a mix of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performances, panel discussions, arts, crafts and other community-based activities. Koori radio will be broadcasting the event.
In years past, Triple J has hosted their Hottest 100 Countdown event on January 26, but as of 2017 this moved to “the fourth weekend of January”. This year, that means January 28.
Heading to the bush capital, the government recently made moves to reduce the fanfare around Australia Day by reversing a Morrison-era edict that all public servants must take the day off. Now there is a choice to respect the public holiday or work and bank the leave. But despite the changing state of January 26, large swathes of the population — political and public — are still signed up for Australia Day things.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese kickstarted his Australia Day duties this morning with a reception for finalists of the Australian of the Year Awards. This evening he will make an address at the official awards ceremony. Tomorrow, Albanese will be in Canberra to attend the national citizenship and flag raising ceremony, which includes a Welcome to Country. His office would not comment on whether the prime minister would attend any of the Invasion Day rallies, but he is expected to make a series of speeches over the coming days. Hark back to last year, when former prime minister Scott Morrison declared Australians had “risen above our brutal beginnings” to survive and thrive as a nation. January 26, he said, was the moment where “the journey to our modern Australia began”.
The Australian Defence Force is pushing ahead full steam as a “proud” participant in Australia Day festivities with fast and furious Sydney Harbour fly-bys and “aerobatic” displays, plus a formal salute to the tune of the national anthem. A helicopter is also set to parade down the coastline underslung with the Australian national flag. These performances are designed as an addendum to the Australia Day Live concert at the Sydney Opera House, part of wider celebrations organised in collaboration with the City of Sydney and New South Wales government.
In Queensland, the government has partnered with local councils to deliver an assortment of activities, including Great Australian Bites — an opportunity to eat many a delectable treat.
