CW: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following content may contain images and stories of people who have died. This article also contains details about First Nations deaths in custody, police brutality, the Stolen Generations, human rights abuses, genocide and ongoing colonial violence.
It has been almost two weeks since the 2024 Invasion Day Rally and almost 250 years since land was stolen and sovereignty never ceded from First Nations peoples. Heeding the calls from speakers, musicians, and protestors at the event, it is crucial that we reflect on the Day’s importance and impact.
On Friday 26th January over 50,000 people marched from Belmore Park to Victoria Park in solidarity with First Nations peoples and their ongoing battle against post-colonial devastation.
Honi Soit took to the streets to provide live coverage of the speakers at the rally, the march itself — along with police interaction — and concluding with thevibrant Yabun Festival,held annually in Victoria Park.
The speak-out was MC’d by Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung and Dunghutti woman Lizzy Jarrett, who first introduced a Didgeridoo Smoking Ceremony. While marshals began to hand out cold water and juice from a designated Rest Tent at the front of Belmore Park, organisers reminded protestors to seek medical attention and familiarise themselves with Legal Observers as the Day continued.
Following an Elders Greeting from Wiradjuri activist Aunty Jenny and Gamilaroy activist Uncle Lyall Munro, the crowd was lucky to hear from a range of First Nations and Palestinian speakers. Uncle Lachlan Wright spoke about the death of his son, Jai Wright, in February 2019 after his trail bike was hit by an unmarked police car. Remembering his son as “forever sixteen now”, Wright vowed that “we will get justice. We won’t stop. There is no way we will stop.”
The coronial inquest into Jai’s death began on January 29 this year, and has been referred to the New South Wales’ Director of Public Prosecutions for potential criminal charges.
Bunjalung and Wiradjuri lawyer, human rights activist, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Commissioner Nessa Turnbull-Roberts continued to condemn state and police violence against First Nations youth, stating that “it is a modern slavery because our children get stolen by the professional kidnapped through the use of bias, prediction and surveillance.”
Amidst cries of “shame” from the crowd, Turnbull-Roberts implored the government to end this “war on human rights” and “the forcible removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”
Palestinian speaker Ahmed Abadla drew parallels between the murder of Indigenous Australians and the ongoing genocide in Gaza, stating that “as long as countries like Australia do not reckon with their past…countries like Israel will continue to act with impunity knowing their actions will have no consequences.” Calling on a wider need for anti-colonial, anti-racist justice, Abadla also pointed out that “the cop who murdered George Floyd was trained by the Israeli army.”
Paul Silva, a Dunghutti activist and the nephew of David Dungay Jr., made the apt yet chilling conclusion: “the law comes from the land. Every government in the history of Australia has failed Aboriginal people, and that is why we stand here today. This is why you support us… There is still unfinished business. 236 years of it.”
The onset of the march transformed the immense crowd from a rippling river to a deep, vast ocean cascading down Broadway. Currents were sustained by chants of “too many coppers, not enough justice” and “ceasefire now”, only becoming more emboldened against the honks of support echoing amongst truck and bus drivers.
The police cars parked across Railway Square, the stream of inbound traffic continuing towards the CBD, the rows of mounted officers lining each side of the road: none of it was enough to block out the protestors’ passion.
While marching, we were disappointed – but not at all surprised – about the state’s reaction to the rally. Every year the devastation continues to weigh heavy, the number of lives lost grows and the testimonies of an institutional struggle against the consequences of colonialism do not lessen.
We did not completely, as some other media outlets have discussed in their coverage, walk away with a sense of hope. To be clear, we were inspired: by the camaraderie of families we saw, the protest signs we laughed with, and the tenacity of everyone who braved the heat. It was inspiring to see the unification of Palestinian solidarity and Indigenous activism, meeting for a shared fight for resistance and liberation.
But this was not a day of hope. It was a day of reckoning and reflection. Honi Soit stands in solidarity with the anger, pain and struggle of First Nations people seeking justice on stolen land.
When we discussed the rally’s meaning with the University of Sydney’s First Nation Collective Convenor and Wiradjuri activist Ethan Floyd, he commented that “this year’s protest drew record numbers, and emphasised the importance of seeking a rights-based agenda after the failed Voice to Parliament referendum. As university students, it’s important that we continue to show up for First Nations justice – particularly as the University plans to roll out its changes to the Confirmation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Identity Policy 2015, which seeks to restrict access for First Nations students and staff to identified roles, scholarships/fee relief, academic support, and enrolment.”
This year’s SRC President Harrison Brennan, who also attended the rally, shared a similar sentiment, reflecting in particular on the shared struggle between First Nations and Palestinian liberation: “the 2024 Invasion Day rally was a call to action for all present. The failure of the Voice referendum in 2023 — a depoliticized campaign that did not speak enough to struggles facing First Nations communities — deeply affected the atmosphere of the rally. So too did the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people at the hands of the colonial state of Israel in Gaza and the state-backed settler violence happening in the West Bank.
The rally emphasised community resistance, that we do our best not to build up or empower the state, but our local communities to oppose the ongoing colonial policies of so-called Australia and its allies. The rally laid bare the global and interconnected anti-colonial struggles that we, as activists, must support in any tangible way we can. As family policing continues, as Indigenous deaths in custody continue to soar, as Country is desecrated and the loss of life in Gaza compounds, it is our duty not to remain passive, but to step up and take to the fight to all colonial states who continue to dispossess and destroy the lives of Indigenous peoples globally.
As anti-colonial activists, we must now look beyond Invasion Day to upcoming rallies occurring across Sydney. February 14, 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of TJ Hickey’s death, a seventeen-year-old Gamilaraay boy who was murdered by two unmarked police cars while riding his push bike through Redfern. A memorial will be held at 10am on February 14, and will continue with a march to Redfern Public School. A remembrance and resistance protest is also being held simultaneously in Naarm to speak out and campaign for deaths in custody.
In addition to showing up every Sunday at Hyde Park, it is vital we continue fighting against genocide in Gaza in other ways. Teachers and School Staff 4 Palestine is leading a Solidarity Day & Rally between 4pm to 6pm on Tuesday February 13. Students For Palestine are also hosting a protest against the war in Palestine at Anthony Albanese’s Marrickville office at 4pm on Friday February 16. The Palestinian Film Festival Australia has also been announced between March 7 and 17, featuring a variety of pieces from Palestinian creators all around the world.
Honi Soit would like to call on our student community to continue showing up in solidarity for First Nations people and their ongoing battle against the colonial violence still rampant in so-called ‘Australia.’ We would like to encourage our community to be listeners to First Nations peoples and to aid in any way on building the strength for the battle ahead.
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