A photo from Melbourne’s anti-Australia Day protest shows more Palestinian, LGBT, and “transgender” flags than Aboriginal ones.
The image, posted by a local activists, was captioned: “Proud to stand with my neighbours, strangers, fellow unionists and Queers against colonialism, invasion, and genocide. None of us are free until we’re all free!”
But despite the “invasion day” theme of the rally, the Aboriginal flags being waved were outnumbers by those representing other causes, such as the Palestinian flag, union and communist flags, different variations on the rainbow “pride” flag, and the “transgender” flag.
Pro-Palestine placards can also be seen in the crowd.
Other photos of the event showed similar scenes, while pro-Palestine protesters also appeared dominant in footage of a Sydney rally by psychologist Max Loomes at Belmore Park where large groups of Muslim women wore Palestinian scarves.
The protests come a day after a statue of Captain Cook was cut down and its plinth defaced in St Kilda, Melbourne.
Vandals spray-painted “the colony will fall” on the base of the statue in red, and splashed the same colour on a nearby stone statue of Queen Victoria.
Proud to stand with my neighbours, strangers, fellow unionists and Queers against colonialism, invasion, and genocide. None of us are free until we’re all free! #InvasionDay24 pic.twitter.com/AewY6griqJ
— hiero badge | انقذوا فلسطين (@hierobadge) January 25, 2024
Huge turnout at the Warrane/Sydney Invasion Protest even in this heatwave. pic.twitter.com/PcTgq7IQ03
— Max Loomes (@MaxLoomes) January 25, 2024
The Captain Cook statue at St Kilda has been sawn off overnight. @3AW693 pic.twitter.com/Y56MdZkd49
— Madelaine Burke (@Madelaine_Burke) January 24, 2024
