Protesters were told to use hand sanitiser frequently and wear face masks and most appeared to be doing so but social distancing proved difficult. The Aboriginal leader said there was a “deliberate ignorance” in Australia about the history of the land. “The British tried everything to eradicate us after their invasion but it didn’t work. “We want you to listen to our voice, and that is why I believe we are here today with so much support, wanting our voice to be heard and listened to and respected.” Following a minute of silence at 11.26am, two women with white ochre on their foreheads sang a mourning song while the crowd beat their chests in time with the clapping sticks.
Indigenous activist Uncle Gary Foley went to his first Invasion Day rally 51 years ago.
On Tuesday, as thousands of people gathered in drizzling rain in Melbourneâs CBD, Uncle Gary told the sea of black, red and yellow of one significant shift he had noticed in more than half a century of campaigning.
âWhat has changed, standing out here looking out at all of you mob, is that large numbers of ordinary Australians are out here with us,â he said.
Thousands of protesters march through the city on Tuesday.
Credit:Chris Hopkins
In the 1970s, a groundswell of protesters fought to raise awareness about the disproportionate number of Indigenous people incarcerated in Australia and dying in custody.
A small, multicultural crowd gathered at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne to witness the fly-past of the RAAF Roulettes and the army’s 21-gun salute.