Thousands protest Australia Day holiday with ‘Invasion Day’ rallies

SYDNEY – Thousands marked Australia’s national day on Jan 26 with “Invasion Day” rallies in support of the country’s Indigenous community, many of whom want to drop celebrations or move the date. Australia Day commemorates the day Britain established the state of New South Wales a penal colony, arriving in what is now the state capital Sydney with a “First Fleet” bringing colonists and convicts. Many people celebrate the holiday with barbecues and trips to the beach, and it is also a popular date for immigrants to receive their Australian citizenship. But many Indigenous Australians, who make up 3.8 per cent of the country’s 26 million people, reject the holiday as marking the start of injustices suffered since European colonisation.…