Invasion day dawn service 2023, Lidia Thorpe greens declaring they are stealing our babies
In Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Canberra, thousands of people protest Invasion Day.
At rallies across the country for Invasion Day, fights broke out and Greens senator Lidia Thorpe said, "They are stealing our babies."
At Invasion Day rallies all over the country, dramatic scenes broke out. Greens senator Lidia Thorpe said, "They are stealing our babies."
In support of the First Nations people, thousands of Australians marched in the hot sun to try to get the government to change the date.
Protesters marched in every state and territory on Thursday because many people didn't celebrate the national holiday and didn't like January 26 being Australia's national day of celebration.
MELBOURNE
Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe took the stage around noon, when the CBD of Melbourne was packed with people cheering for her.
Indigenous woman Ms. Thorpe, who is the star of Melbourne's treaty movement, said, "This is a war," and the crowd cheered wildly.
"They declared war on our people more than 200 years ago," Senator Thorpe said in an unusual speech in which she said that "they" were still raping black women.
Loud shouts of "shame" met each of Ms. Thorpe's statements, which she made with hands that were painted red to show that they were violent and in which she held a "war stick."
"That war has never stopped against our people in our country. Still, they are killing us. Still, they are taking our babies. Our men are being killed. She yelled to the crowd, "They are still robbing our women!"
"What do we have in this country to celebrate? Do we want to become a group that gives advice to the colonial government? We deserve better. We need to get rid of racism, heal this country, and bring everyone together through a sovereign treaty. "We deserve better than an advisory body. They could put 10 black states that are independent into the Senate right now. We want real power, and we won't settle for less."
Senator Thorpe told NCA NewsWire after her speech that it wasn't proof that she would lead a Voice no-vote.
She said, "I won't be a part of any campaign."
Senator Thorpe said that the number of people who came and how they reacted to the many Aboriginal speakers proved that a treaty was needed right away.
To loud chants of "Black Lives Matter" and "Stop Killing Us," the rally moved toward the busy intersection of Swanston and Collins St, briefly stopping traffic in the center of Melbourne's CBD.
Ms. Thorpe and some other people laid down on the tram tracks at the crossroads.
For the annual Invasion Day celebration, a large crowd gathered on Bourke St in the city's central business district in front of Victoria's State Parliament.
When a speaker said "f**k Australia Day" just after 11 a.m., the crowd of thousands started cheering.
Uncle Gary Foley said that the idea for The Voice was "lipstick on a pig" and was not good.
He said that a treaty between the First Nations and the rest of the country should be more important than the referendum.
"This vote doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell," he said.
When Uncle Robbie Thorpe called for a sovereign people's assembly instead of a Voice, the crowd cheered loudly.
Uncle Thorpe said, "A lot of money has been spent on our welfare and health, but there's nothing to show for it."
He urged people to take "one step closer" and rebel, saying that 2023 would be a year of reckoning.
"Australia, are you ready for freedom? Are you up to it? He asked the crowd, "Are you ready for the truth?"
Uncle Thorpe said that the idea of a voice was "disgusting and offensive" and that it "double-dated the constitution."
Many of the people in the crowd are holding signs with popular Invasion Day slogans, like "No Pride in Genocide" and "Sovereignty Never Ceded."
On the floor were signs that said things like "Queers for liberation" and "Abolish: police, prisons, Australia."
Uncle Thorpe said, "This is a chance to stand up and get rid of the criminals in here." He pointed behind him to Parliament House.
"Get rid of the State, the Crown, and The Commonwealth," he told the crowd, which cheered loudly.
SYDNEY
People started gathering early in the morning on Gadigal land at Belmore Park in Sydney's Central Business District (CBD) before the march at 9.30am.
Not long after, a fight broke out in the crowd. A small group of people held up an Australian flag and signs that said, "Always was and always will be Australian land."
Gwenda Stanley, a Gomeroi woman and Indigenous rights activist, told them to leave the area during the rally.
"Australia Day is no longer happening. She yelled at him from across the park, "Get over it!"
Ms. Stanley told NCA NewsWire that they were "spies and troublemakers."
"Our conflict is 235 years of genocide in this country, and he thinks he has a right to stand there and some kind of power in our day," she said.
"Australia Day has passed. Get over it. Now is our time. No more. It's over and done with."
When the police got involved, they told the group to break up and said they would give them a direction if they didn't.
Kim Jacobs, who was holding up an Australian flag to show that he was a protester, said that his disagreement was democratic.
He told a police officer, "I guess I'm one of those awkward people who has an opinion but is afraid to say it."
"I don't want to get into trouble with the police or start a fight."
A bystander told him as he was leaving, "You're everything that's wrong with this country."
As a response to the Federal Government's Voice to Parliament plan, the rally on Thursday will focus on the theme "sovereignty before voice."
Uncle Dave Bell gave an acknowledgement of country at the beginning of the rally, which was followed by traditional dances.
On park grounds, there were a lot of police.
Speakers called for Indigenous sovereignty and criticized the referendum for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
Auntie Lizzie Jarrett, an activist and a Dunghutti, Gumbaynggirr, and Bundjalung woman, told people to vote no.
"Liberal, Labor, the system is not for Black people," she said to cheers from the crowd.
"We don't need a voice because we already have one. We don't want to start from scratch.
"When the time is right. Don't vote "yes" in the vote. Please don't come here to check a box."
Ms. Jarrett talked to the NSW Police officers at the rally and told them that they didn't need their protection at the event.
She also talked about the death of Queen Elizabeth II, which had just happened.
"We keep each other safe. "This is sovereignty day, and Australia Day is dead," Ms. Jarrett said.
"Australia Day is dead, just like queen Lizzie. Will you support us? If you do, when the time for the referendum comes, smash it like Australia."
BRISBANE
Thursday was Invasion Day, and a lot of people went to Queens Gardens to celebrate.
More than 10,000 supporters walked from the gardens to Musgrave Park with the huge crowd. Roads were closed all over the Brisbane CBD.
Several people wore t-shirts that said "Treaty Now" and chanted "End black deaths in custody."
Still others wore clothes with the Aboriginal flag on them.
In the park, a huge Aboriginal flag was spread out on the ground, and a woman held a sign that said "always was, always will be."
People in the crowd held signs that said things like "The Queen is dead, and so is the colony" and "land rights country, not politics."
The people at the rally were asked if they wanted a voice in Parliament, but no one spoke up.
"Does anyone in this room think we need a Voice? They asked, "No one?"
"We want back our land. We want to stop people from dying in jail. We want to stop trauma that affects multiple generations. Even though we have a say, those jerks in Parliament haven't been listening. We want justice, and we want to be able to make our own decisions and be independent. "If they think a government-appointed advisory council will say it better, they have no idea what they are talking about."