Thousands rally for 'Invasion Day' protests on Australia Day holiday - Reuters

SYDNEY, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Thousands of Australians marked the country's nationalist time celebrations connected Thursday with rallies successful enactment of Indigenous people, galore of whom picture the day of the time a British fleet sailed into Sydney Harbour arsenic "Invasion Day".

In Sydney, the superior of New South Wales - Australia's astir populous authorities - societal media showed a ample assemblage gathered astatine an "Invasion Day" rally successful the cardinal concern district, wherever immoderate radical carried Aboriginal flags and an Indigenous smoking ceremonial took place.

Similar protests took spot successful different Australian authorities capitals, including successful South Australia's Adelaide wherever astir 2,000 radical attended, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Speaking astatine a flag-raising and citizenship ceremonial successful Australia's capital, Canberra, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese honoured the nation's Indigenous people, who person occupied the onshore for astatine slightest 65,000 years.

"Let america each recognise the unsocial privilege that we person to stock this continent with the world's oldest continuous culture," Albanese said.

While it was a "difficult day" for Indigenous Australians, determination were nary plans to alteration the holiday's date, helium said.

An yearly canvass by marketplace probe institution Roy Morgan released this week showed astir two-thirds of Australians accidental Jan. 26 should beryllium considered "Australia Day", mostly unchanged from a twelvemonth ago. The remainder judge it should beryllium "Invasion Day".

Amid the debate, immoderate companies person adopted flexibility astir observance of the holiday. Australia's largest telecoms company, Telstra Corp Ltd (TLS.AX), this twelvemonth gave its unit the enactment to enactment connected Jan. 26 and instrumentality different time disconnected instead.

"For galore First Nations peoples, Australia Day ... marks a turning constituent that saw lives lost, civilization devalued, and connections betwixt radical and places destroyed," Telstra main enforcement serviceman Vicki Brady wrote connected LinkedIn.

Many of Australia's 880,000 oregon truthful Indigenous radical retired of a colonisation of 25 cardinal lag down others connected economical and societal indicators successful what the authorities calls "entrenched inequality".

This year's vacation comes arsenic Albanese's centre-left Labor Party authorities plans a referendum connected recognising Indigenous radical successful the constitution, and requiring consultation with them connected decisions that impact their lives.

The authorities plans to present authorities successful March to acceptable up the referendum that volition instrumentality spot aboriginal this year, arsenic the Indigenous dependable shapes arsenic a cardinal national governmental issue.

The constitution, which came into effect successful January 1901 and can't beryllium amended without a referendum, does not notation to the country's Indigenous people.

One of the radical astatine Sydney's protest, Abi George, said it was not a blessed time for each Australians, particularly Indigenous people.

"Nobody's got the close to observe genocide," she said.

Another protester, Vivian Macjohn, said the rally against the nationalist time was a amusement of enactment for Indigenous people.

"I deliberation it's important that we amusement up and we mourn with them and basal successful solidarity," she said.

Reporting by Sam McKeith and Cordelia Hsu; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Raju Gopalakrishnan

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