Indigenous Australians plan to go bigger on Australia Day

The Australian letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australian bureau. To register to receive it by email. This week's issue is written by Julia Bergin, a reporter based in the Northern Territory.

Parades, Union Jack-themed barbecues, angry protests and reflective vigils: it's 2024 and January 26 in Australia remains a day that evokes many different reactions across the country.

Formally Australia Day, but also known as Invasion Day or Survival Day, the date marks the violent arrival of British colonists on the continent in 1788, and has a long history as a political flashpoint for indigenous affairs.

This year, a First Nations advocacy group in Darwin decided to go bigger — with a hybrid protest for indigenous Australians, Palestinians and the people of West Papua, which was annexed by Indonesia decades ago, sparking a protracted conflict.

“Yes, Invasion Day is why we are all here today, but we have to go beyond that,” said Mililma May, who leads the group, a nonprofit called Uprising of the People.

Ms May, a Kulumbirigin Danggalaba Tiwi woman, said what was needed for all groups were practical and tangible ways to understand colonialism. By bringing together separate protest movements with a common goal “to reclaim land”, she said she hoped January 26 would unite oppressed groups and engage a broader cross-section of Australians.

It is also an attempt to bring attention back to unresolved issues.

In the months following the failure of the Indigenous voice Following the parliamentary referendum – designed to enshrine an Indigenous advisory group in the Australian Constitution – First Nations issues have disappeared from the mainstream news agenda and slid down the government's to-do list.

William Tilmouthan Arrernte man and founder of Children's Ground, a First Nations education organization, said the conversation about Indigenous rights had stalled after the referendum, making the topic even more difficult to discuss for First Nations people.

“We are twenty meters behind the starting gun,” he said. “We start from behind and have to run faster to get up.”

Historically, Jan. 26 has served as a source of momentum for First Nation rights, Mr. Tilmouth said, but the referendum failure had handicapped Indigenous people this year.

“It's not talked about much,” he said.

Yet the holiday remains politically controversial. In the weeks leading up to January 26, supporters of Australia Day celebrations used social media to stoke nationalist sentiment, including condemning major companies for “anti-Australian” marketing decisions, such as supermarket chains cutting back on holiday merchandise. (Supermarkets have attributed the decline to declining demand.)

Mr Tilmouth argues that January 26 is a day that could and should be used to promote justice and reconciliation, respect and recognition, rather than a day of celebration. Such values, he said, had application beyond Australia, where racism and oppression – “no matter who, or where or when” – did no one any favours.

It was time for people to work together, he said: from now on, global warming would dominate.

“Nature is truly the great equalizer,” he said.

In Darwin, where a cyclone threatens to swamp the city, Mrs May kept a close eye on weather forecasts. She expected a few hundred people to show up to support the hybrid protest, but knew that their planned action was ultimately at the whim of forces beyond their control.

“A little rain won't stop us,” she says. “But we assume that Country will be on our side.”

Has your view of Australia Day – and how you mark the day – changed over time? Let us know by sending an email to nytaustralia@nytimes.com.

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