In pictures: Invasion day 2024
I took these pictures in at the start of 2024 during the Invasion Day Rally. Only now have I finally had the time to go through my archive and review them. Now almost a year too late, here is a post on Invasion Day 2024.
Since the failure of the referendum in October last year, there has been a palpable shift in public sentiment. Emboldened by the victory, Dutton and those of his ilk are crawling out of the woodwork to laud over the corpse of First Nations Recognition. Labour with its middle road strategy of quiet advocation has poisoned the olive branch lent by those who believed in Albanese. Thorpe was the only one who predicted the outcome and what it would mean for First Nations Advocacy as a whole - speaking on these steps of Parliament over a year ago, 9 months before the referendum - she said the damage this referendum would wrought far outweighs any benefit. That was why she'd vote no.
This Invasion Day there was self-contained fury behind every speakers gritted teeth. An anger not just for injustices of the past, but the seemingly unending injustices of the present. Hope is the fodder of moderates, so what happens when good faith runs out?
The crowd cheers at the calls for treaty, recognition, justice. "No Justice, No peace!" Echoes through a sea of over two thousand people crammed onto the steps of Parliament and surrounds. "Always was, Always will be - Aborigional Land!" Placards of scrawled vitriol directed at the government bob wildly with the sweep of Palestinian and Aboriginal flags. The united front against colonialism.
If you want a picture of Melbourne's activists, there is no greater event than this one. From all suburbs, ethnicities, and ages, the crowd is as diverse as the city itself. Though one thing of note - not a single suit in sight. The true powers of this city remain swaddled in their sandstone towers. The anger reigns supreme.
To a cynic, this event is a grand show of support, that most, if not all, of its participants go home afterwards to watch the cricket. But as someone who has been coming to these rallies for a few years, each year, the numbers only grow. The cries for justice only louder, until they penetrate even the coldest bluestone foundation. This rally was by far the largest I've ever seen in the CBD. An immovable crowd all united in their fury, their thirst for justice - but most of all, their hope. To come out to this rally is taking a stand, even if it's just to be a voice in the crowd. By the fact only more people are coming each year, crowds almost doubling, then there is still hope that a tidal wave of change will wash over those steps and into the green carpeted halls beyond.
