Australia Day celebrations on the Gold Coast as revellers enjoy the sun ignoring Invasion Day fury

Revelers let their hair down and celebrated Australia Day in style by getting out and enjoying the beautiful sun, sand and surf the country has to offer.

Despite the endless debate about keeping January 26 as our national day and the noisy Invasion Day demonstrations that draw thousands of people in all capitals, some opted for parties over protests, using the holiday as an opportunity to relax and enjoy a perfect climate.

Partygoers on the Gold Coast weren’t about to miss out on a little fun on Thursday as they met up with friends and celebrated what makes us The Lucky Country.

Photos show Australians enjoying the scorching 32C Gold Coast weather in their beach gear; most capitals were in the high 20s, except for nearby Brisbane, which also had a scorching.

Peaceful beachside barbecues, boating and even old-fashioned Australian flags abounded.

It was a stark contrast to Melbourne, where you could barley see any Australian flag in the CBD.

Greens Senator Thorpe led an Invasion Day protest on the steps of Parliament House in Victoria and took the stage clutching a war stick to loud cheers from the huge crowd in the midday heat.

The Melbourne treaty movement star inflamed emotions with his declaration that Australia in 2023 was in a “war” with indigenous peoples.

In Sydney, there was no city-wide Australia Day parade for the third year in a row, while thousands of people poured into the streets in solidarity with First Nations people.

The sails of the Sydney Opera House were lit with indigenous artwork by proud Kamilaroi woman and artist, Rhonda Sampson, to celebrate First Nations women around the water of Sydney Harbour.

The increasingly divisive day is reflected in how Surprisingly few Australian flags were displayed in photos of celebrations, or protests, in most capital cities.

In the run-up to the holidays, retail giant Kmart stopped stocking Australian flag merchandise altogether, which are typically available year-round.

“We respect that January 26 means different things to different people and we aim to foster an environment that is inclusive and respectful for both our customers and our teams,” a Kmart spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

“It is for this reason that we will also give all of our team members the option to work or not on that day, with the option to substitute another day.”

But Australia Day was also an opportunity to welcome more than 19,000 new citizens from across the country who participated in ceremonies to become part of our modern multicultural society.

Among them was Mexican-born Nashieli García Alaniz, who hopes to use her experience as an ecologist to protect the nation’s native animals.

“I’m very happy to be able to participate in the country on a different level now and I can’t wait to contribute to help protect this environment,” he said.

Recent polls suggest that while most Australians believe January 26 should remain Australia Day, there is a growing group who would prefer it to be moved to a less polarizing date.

A poll by the conservative think tank, IPA, surveyed 1,038 people of different age ranges. about his attitude to change the date of Australia Day.

The survey results show that 62 per cent of people believe Australia Day should be celebrated on January 26, while only 17 per cent believe the date should be moved and 21 per cent had no opinion.

However, there is a growing resentment towards the holidays.

“We should acknowledge that support for celebrating Australia Day on January 26 has fallen from 75% in 2019 to 69% in 2021 and now to 62% in 2023,” said John Roskam, a senior fellow at the Institute for Public Affairs. , wrote about the results.

“Only 42 per cent of 18-24 year olds agreed Australia Day should be celebrated on January 26, 30 per cent disagreed and 28 per cent had no opinion.”

So while a rapidly growing younger generation of Australians believe in changing the date, there is still a large part of the nation that simply enjoys the holiday.

But it’s not just the date that has become divisive, many have used January 26 to protest the Indigenous Voice proposed by the Albanian government to Parliament.

Indigenous anti-mining activist Adrian Burragubba at the Sydney protests called the government’s voice plan patronizing and a form of assimilation.

“This is like a paternalistic attitude, all the time, of telling us, ‘We know what’s best for you and we’ll tell you what’s right,'” he said.

‘We don’t want to be assimilated into a constitution written by white people.’

Ngambri and Ngunnawal’s wife, Leah House, called the proposed voice ‘crumbs’, ‘fucking unconvincing’, ‘vague’ and ‘a distraction from what our ancestors and elders have been fighting for’.

‘Why the hell would we accept our political role in this country as an advisory body…not as a decision maker?’ she asked.