Image: Jack Toohey
An estimated 10,000 people have marched through the Sydney CBD to mark Invasion Day, as March For Australia protesters gathered mere streets away.
Proceedings began in Hyde Park where attendees held a minute’s silence for Sophie Quinn, John Harris, and Nerida Quinn, who were allegedly murdered in Lake Cargelligo on Thursday evening.
The crowd heard from speakers including Warlpiri elder and grandfather to Kumanjayi Walker and Kumanjayi White, Uncle Ned Hargraves, Eileen Murray, Lynda-June Coe, Jordan Ryan-Hennessy, and members of the Blak Caucus, Lizzie Jarrett and Paul Silva, who organised the event.
Wiradjuri & Badu Island woman, Lynda-June Coe said that despite fundamental work done by elders over the last 238 years, the myth of Terra Nullius still persisted in the foundations of Australia.
“That’s why we have to keep pushing the agenda of sovereignty,” Coe said. “And it’s not enough to just acknowledge that sovereignty has never been ceded. You have to do your homework and recognise what it actually means. It means we are surviving a war.”
Bidjigal and Gweagal man Ryan-Hennessy criticised the weaponisation of the Bondi terror attack by politicians to shut down the protests over the last month, with organisers unsure whether the annual Invasion Day march would face restrictions until last Tuesday.
“I send my love and condolences to the families of that terrible attack, but it’s just as important that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples get the same respect and recognition,” he said.
“The Minns government has given the New South Wales police more authority to try and stop our rallies, which creates more opportunities to try and brutalise us.
“Always was, always will be. Long live our resistance along with the intifada.”
The march to the Yabun Festival at Victoria Park was largely uneventful, broken up by a brief scuffle outside Central Station, where hundreds of March For Australia supporters had rallied in the nearby Prince Alfred Park.
A small group of people with Australian flags heckled protesters as they walked by, but ran when they were confronted.
Another man, also with an Australian flag, was escorted away by police after walking in front of the march.
Anti-immigration demonstrator arrested for alleged hate speech
March For Australia protesters also gathered in the city, with march routes carefully organised so the two groups wouldn’t clash.
As per reporting from The Guardian, some demonstrators carried placards calling for the release of Joel Davis, a member of the National Socialist Network who was charged late last year for allegedly threatening Wentworth MP Allegra Spender.
A 31-year-old man was arrested after he allegedly made antisemitic comments during an open mic portion of the event, and is expected to be charged with hate speech offences.
Livestreamed footage shows the man addressing the crowd in a shirt emblazoned with a known neo-Nazi symbol, the Celtic cross. Attendees cheered after he made the antisemitic remarks, and he finished his speech with a call to: “Free Joel Davis, hail White Australia and hail Thomas Sewell.”
Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, assistant commissioner Brett McFadden said the man was expected to be charged under 93ZAA of the NSW Crimes Act, the offence for publicly inciting hatred on the grounds of race.
Although McFadden said the comments were “unequivocally assigned” with neo-Nazi ideology, he neglected to comment on whether the man was a known member of the National Socialist Network.
Police estimate around 2,000 people rallied with March For Australia.
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