#invasion day

[jesterpunk]

[ID: A digital painting in pastel colors showing a colorful crowd of different animals holding a Palestinian and Indiginous Australian flags, with text above them that reads, "From the river to the Sea, always was, always will be", with white doves flying next to the flags. A small artist's signature at the bottom reads, "jesterpunk". End ID.]

🕊️ every year in my lifetime, I've seen an ugly blue british flag printed on single use cups and ugly tshirts on January 26th, celebrating stolen land, stolen language and stolen children. this year in particular, I feel the need to make my politics clear through art, as the horrors of colonialism and genocide are mirrored internationally in Palestine. I want to be clear, you do not get to enjoy my art without knowing clearly what my politics are, and you do not get to ignore my politics as an inherent part of my art. no one is free until everyone is free 🖤💛❤️🇵🇸

[Emoji description: A white dove with a green sprig. A black heart, a yellow heart, a red heart, and the Palestinian flag. End emoji description.]

[kropotkindersurprise]

January 25, 2024 - A day before the celebration of "Australia day" the statue of Captain Cook in St. Kilda, Australia, was sawn off at the ankles, with the words "The Colony Will Fall" painted on the statue's plinth.

[radicalgraff]

Anti-Colonial activists in Magandjin set alight liberated flags on Invasion Day 2025

[elinekeit-artstuff]

Here are some resources for the 26th of January. In such difficult times, solidarity is more important than ever. Take care of yourself and take care of each other.

Support services for those in Australia:

Lifeline 13 11 14

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800

QLife 1800 184 527 (for Queer Australians)

Support services specific for First Nations people:

13YARN 13 92 76

Yarning Safe ’N’ Strong 1800 959 563

Brother to Brother 1800 435 799 (for Indigenous men)

[hollie47]

Invasion Day is not a date to celebrate. Change the date.

Art by Harley & J on Instagram.

[hyacinth--girl]

Yet again kissing the betoota advocate writers on the lips

[queerasfact]

Invasion Day

On January 26 1788, the First Fleet of convicts from Britain arrived on the lands of the Eora Nation and the establishment of a British colony in Australia began.

Although the day is now official observed as Australia Day, it is, to quote Victorian community organisers, “an annual reminder of invasion, occupation, genocide and the ongoing impacts of colonisation that continue to destroy our land and waters”.

Keep reading under the cut - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that below is an image and names of deceased persons.

First Nations people have publicly marked 26 January as a Day of Mourning since 1938. The photo above comes from 1988, when, on 26 January, Australia officially celebrated its bicentenary. In response to public celebrations of the day, gay Aboriginal and South Sea Islander man Malcolm Cole and artist Panos Couros came up their own way to mark the occasion – a float in Sydney’s Mardi Gras parade a month later.

The float, known as the “Aboriginal Boat”, took the form of a sailing ship manned by Malcolm, dressed as Captain Cook, the British man who “claimed” the lands of First Nations people along Australia’s east coast for Britain. Narungga and Kaurna man Rodney Junga-Williams played botanist Joseph Banks, who was also instrumental in the decision to colonise the continent. The float was pulled by their white friends.

As Australians ourselves, living on the stolen lands of the Kulin Nation, we encourage you to spend the day doing what you can to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. BlaQ Aboriginal Corporation is one organisation working to support queer First Nations people, that you in turn can support.

[Image source: Photograph taken by Ken Lovett, Australian Queer Archives, via ABC]

[soup-mother]

"we're just abolishing Australia day, noone's saying we need to abolish Australia itself"

[mistinajar]

hey hetalians. hws australia’s canon birthday is coming up this january but please be respectful in regards to ‘australia day’. the history of this day is terribly horrible. in my area we all call it mourning day, but otherwise it’s generally referred to as invasion day

for our aboriginals, invasion day ‘celebrates’ the loss of their sovereign rights to their land, the mass killing of their families, and their loss of the right to practice their culture.

you dont have to disregard hws australia’s birthday of course, if you want to celebrate without any historical aspect or if you want to support our aboriginals without knowing an extensive amount of our history, you could always change his birthdate. (there are alternate days you can find online if you want to use those).

it is not the biggest issue in australia, nor is it the smallest, but acknowledging and understanding the day is important.

hetalia is so malleable you could change or interpret anything differently if you so desire, and there’s nothing stopping you from celebrating or creating in the way you wish, but please remember what this day means to us and please, over everything, be respectful

[you-need-not-apply]

I don’t want to see a single “happy Australia Day” post tomorrow. It’s invasion day. It’s a sad day. It is a day for remembering not a day for celebration.

[bridgeytidgey]

fight against invasion day. go to rallys, sign petitions, just make your voice heard. even if it doesnt affect you directly you should attend, sign and shout. we need to recognise the bloodshed that australia day symbolises.

also vote greens

[ultravioletrayz]

i just wanna go on a little invasion day rant because i'm high rn and bored on the public holiday lol.

obviously i'm all for changing the date to honour the fact that this nation is stolen land and has been built on the neglected and abused backs of our beautiful indigenous people. Fuck the colony and fuck Peter Dutton.

but outside of that, Australia day is fucking stupid in general. "every country has a day" yeah and jan 26 is a stupid day. it is not a celebration of australia, it is a celebration of Britain and a bunch of dumbass boats. other nations' days are in honour of independent, culturally significant empowerment within a country's developmental history. ours is not a true representation of australia's initial development into a rich nation.

with that being said, i propose that the date of our country's national holiday be changed to july 9; the date the australian constitution was signed and we officially became a federation rather than a regionally divided, brit-ruled colonial prison island.

it celebrates our more formal, legislative beginning as a nation 'independent' of Britain and marked a more appropriate and realised encapsulation of australian views and policies. and, it allows jan 26 to be observed by indigenous people as the tragedy it really was.

idk, that's what i think and its just my opinion... but my opinion is correct lmao

a big fuck you to anyone that celebrated yesterday, and my heart goes out to all the aboriginal people mourning and struggling during this time <3

[radicalgraff]

"Always Was, Always Will Be (Aboriginal Land)"

Seen in Fremantle, Western Australia

[elinekeit-artstuff]

The end of January is such an important time of the year to support the Indigenous communities in Australia. This link is a good starting point. Please show your solidarity in any and every way you can.

[foxs0x]

Today is 'Australia Day.' While many Australians celebrate with snags on the barbie and an arvo by the pool, I find it hard to join in. For me, this day marks the erasure of the Indigenous people — the traditional custodians of my country.

What many people don’t know about me is that I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for my 5th great-grandmother, Margaret, an Aboriginal Dharug woman who was among the first of the Stolen Generation in Parramatta, Sydney. Her closest living descendant to me is my nan.

Most people don’t realise this about my family, as my grandpa is Swedish and bloody everyone in my community knows him lol. My relatives, apart from me and my brother (and my nan), all have blonde hair and blue eyes. Even our surname is distinctly Scandinavian and difficult for most people to pronounce or spell down here.

But today, I’m thinking about Margaret and her story. She and her little sister were stolen from their mob as children, never to see their mother or family again. The two girls were separated, and Margaret never saw her sister again. Her name, her culture, her teachings — all stolen. She was forced to 'forget' everything about her heritage and was taught how to ‘be white.’

Margaret was indoctrinated into Christianity and later became a house slave for a white family in Sydney. She married a white man — a convict sent to Australia — who was also a slave. When her husband passed, she bought a burial plot to ensure she could rest beside him. But when Margaret died, she wasn’t allowed to be buried there because she was black. Instead, she was placed in an unmarked grave, and to this day, no one knows where.

Everything was stolen from her, even in death.

In World War II, my nan’s father was white-passing. He hid his heritage to secure better work opportunities, something many felt forced to do at the time. He kept this a secret his entire life, only revealing the truth before his death when he returned from the War.

Margaret’s story isn’t unique. It's one of countless others that form the fabric of Australian history. Stories of stolen culture, destroyed families, and enduring pain that echoes across generations.

That’s why I believe Australia Day shouldn’t be a celebration. Instead, it should be a day of remembrance and respect for the resilience of the Indigenous people whose lives and legacies were forever altered by nothing but pure cruelty.

🖤💛♥️

[exhaustedcaterpillar]

it's invasion day, not australia day

genocide is not something to be celebrated. this invasion day, attend a rally, donate to aboriginal organisations, advocate for changing the date. stand in solidarity with your aboriginal friends.

always was, always will be, aboriginal land