Survival Day, Gadi, 2025

The 26th of January 2025 on Gadigal Country marked the anniversary of the landing of Captain Arthur Phillip on Darug-speaking Gweagal land, and Sydney Cove in 1788. It was on this day in 1788 that British forces planted the Union Jack, declaring the entire continent of terra australis as British territory. What followed, many would say, is “history”, but the general lack of education around what followed the colonisation of “Australia” has resulted in a dramatic spike in support for “Australia Day” celebrations to 69%.

First Nations peoples and allies have gathered on Gadi yearly on January 26 since 1938 to mourn colonialism, honour the ancestors, resist genocide and celebrate survival. The Blak Caucus, in collaboration with Gadigal elders, organised the Invasion Day rally, with a particular focus on Blak deaths in custody and child removal.

One of the speakers present at Belmore Park was Indigenous rights activist Paul Silva, a proud Dunghutti man and nephew of David Dungay Jr. Dungay Jr was a 26-year-old Indigenous man who was murdered at Long Bay Correctional Centre in 2015 after being forcefully restrained by 5 prison officers for eating a packet of biscuits. His story is one of 580+ Indigenous deaths in custody since the 1991 Royal Commission, from which exactly 0 people have been convicted. Attendees held signs documenting these staggering statistics to the public passersby, many of whom have likely never heard of the real impacts of a racialised criminal justice system from mainstream media.

Other incredible speakers including Ethan Lyons and Vanessa Turnball Roberts both delivered powerful tear-jerking speeches. This article would be incomplete without touching on the beautifully raw Blak rage of Lyons, a Wiradjuri man who reiterated the truth that “Blackfellas have no masters… this country was founded on genocide. Point blank, period.”

Thousands of people attended the pre-march speak-out at Belmore Park including but not limited to contingents from Palestine Action Group, Pride in Protest, Teachers Federation, The Greens, Sydney Knitting Nannas & Friends and the UNSW and USYD Queer Collectives. Notably, the Sydney branch of Socialist Alternative (SAlt) was also reportedly in attendance, clutching the latest edition of Red Flag with the front cover bearing the heading “Australia is a Racist State.” The sale of newspapers or merch by “allies” at Indigenous-led actions has been a topic of little controversy, at least among Indigenous folk, as it goes against the Golden Rule of allyship, do not speak over Black people.  The behaviour of SAlt at the 2022 candlelight vigils for murdered Aboriginal teen Cassius Turvey rekindled the conversation on whether SAlt’s presence was more than just an inconvenience. SAlt’s tendency to take up literal space in Aboriginal spaces became more than just a mild annoyance and stepped right into the territory of flat-out disrespect.

Over the last decade, Socialist Alternative have written themselves a separate playbook on what respectful conduct at rallies ought to be. Continent-wide, Socialist Alternative have been expressly uninvited from Invasion Day events for consistent breach of cultural protocols and so their presence, whilst always jarring, is never uncharacteristic.

An anonymous Aboriginal attendee reported that a member of Socialist Alternative instigated an argument with her for holding the banner of the Labor Left contingent. After being reminded today is a day of mourning for her and her family, the SAlt member said it did not matter and made reference to the Indigenous woman’s “white” appearance. Clearly, the sale of newspapers did not halt during Nessa’s speech about child theft.

Following the rally, Yabun festival was already underway, with the march attendees arriving as First Nations guests from Turtle Island showcased their fancy horse dance tradition from across the world. Yabun has been a significant Invasion Day event held on Gadigal land yearly since 2001. Celebrating Indigenous survival, Yabun hosts thousands of Aboriginal families, businesses, performers and artists to uplift Indigenous peoples on an incredibly dark day in this continent’s history.

For many attendees, the considerable police presence at Yabun was both uncomfortable and dangerous, particularly at an event that aims to honour survival against a genocide perpetrated by the government’s police. One attendee captured a video of a police officer on duty bearing tattoos of Nordic runes and symbols heavily associated with far-right white supremacism in the modern day. The police officer did not deny or confirm if his tattoos were indeed evidence of his allegiance to neo-Nazism or an homage to his distant, distant Viking ancestry. However, in the wake of centrists fretting to deny Elon Musk’s rendition of the Nazi salute, without Elon Musk even denying it himself, the officer’s failure to answer questions or clear up any confusion makes all signs point to…Racist. 

So yes, the legacy of January 26th is alive and well. From Aboriginal men murdered in their cells to Aboriginal women demonised in the media, to police bearing neo-Nazi symbols and whatever the fuck Socialist Alternative does, colonialism has not yielded; but Blackfellas will never stop resisting.