Despite polls that showed a revival of enthusiasm for celebrating Australia Day on January 26, there was little open patriotism on Sydney's Bondi beach, even compared to a few years earlier.
While sun seekers flowed to the sand to enjoy an ideal beach day of blue skies with temperatures that float around the mid-1920s, there were few Aussie flags or other national insignia and colors.
The only visible wink to the national day were a few men who wore Aussie flags or T-shirts and occasionally temporary tattoo.
This contrasts with photos from 2022 that shows a completely different scene, where many women attract Australian bikinis and hats, while others even draped themselves in the national flag.
Earlier in the day, a crowd gathered to view the 'Dawn Reflection', who honors indigenous Australians.
Waverley Council, who includes some of the most prosperous areas of Australia in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, said that the event was to “recognize the resilience and survival of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.”
It would also “recognize their constant bond with land and culture as the traditional preservators of this country.”
The Council started the event last year when Mayor Paula Masselos said that Australians who voted for a native voice not to anchoring parliament in the Constitution in October 2023 had partially led the decision.
The peaceful beach scenes in the eastern suburbs of Sydney strongly contrasted with the massive police in hand in Melbourne as an estimate 30,000 protesters descended into the center of the city to protest against the date of the national day.
Under sun seekers, on Sunday to the iconic beach of Sydney, there was little sign of Australian flags or other national insignia
A few men were seen among the crowd of beach visitors on Australia Day with the National Flag
In general, however, the scene at Bondi saw on any other normal summer day on the beach
Protesters sang 'f *** the police' then mounted officers were in the stand -and parts of the CBD were stopped.
Stores were closed or in some cases guarded by a police cordon in which officers even had to block Major Rail Hub the Flinders Street train station.
Protest march and events are also performed in Australia.
The debate about whether January 26 should be the date for Australia Day, was the subject of sparring between opposition leader Peter Dutton and Mr. Albanese as the two square for an election later this year.
Mr. Dutton has promised to bring back laws by obliging councils that keep citizenship ceremonies, something that Mr. Albanese abolished after winning the office in 2022.
“I sometimes think that every year Peter Dutton has a fight with an imaginary friend about something that most Australians can just go with – Australia Day,” said Mr Albanese on Friday.
'And one of the things that Australia Day is celebrating is the fact that we are not a command system in Soviet style. You know, like just relaxing! Continue life. '
Families and friends celebrated Australia Day on Bondi Beach with more Cabanas seen than the Australian flag
Australian flags were seen little and far between Bondi Beach as the vote on national holiday shifts
A few swimmers show off a few temporary tattoos of the Australian flag
A group of friends kick a beach ball with the Australian flag on it
A swimmer enjoys the sunshine on Bondi Beach – with normal swimwear a more common view than that designed with the Australian flag
Many families were seen in Bondi Beach enjoyed the water and the sun on Sunday
Earlier this month, a poll showed that there was an increase in support on January 26, especially under Young Aussies, for Australia Day.
The survey conducted by the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) showed that 69 percent of 1,002 respondents agreed that the National Publicy Holiday should remain on January 26- an increase of six points from 12 months ago.
Embracing January 26 as the National Day was particularly pronounced among Australians aged 18-24, even though they were less before the date than other age group.
Last year, only 42 percent of young Aussies supported celebrating on January 26, but that number has risen to 52 percent.
A majority in each age bar now prefers January 26 as the date for national commemoration.
The poll also showed that 86 percent of the respondents were 'proud to be Australian', while 68 percent agreed that Australia has a history to be proud of '.
IPA -ADJUNCT executive director Daniel Wild said that the results have shown a shift in the atmosphere and energy around Australia Day.
'In the recent past as of January, Australians must endure the handwing and navel gazing of the self -proclaimed thinkers and elites that demand the country to think about the reasons to be ashamed of Australia. Not anymore! ” He told the Daily Telegraph.
