Australia Day Protests Surge Amid Calls for Date Change

Statues symbolizing colonial past vandalized as thousands march against historical celebration marking European arrival.

Tens of thousands of Australians took to the streets to protest the annual Australia Day celebrations, demanding that the date be changed due to its contentious historical significance.
The holiday marks the arrival of European settlers at Sydney Harbour in 1788, a date Indigenous activists say heralded the start of a centuries-long campaign of cultural genocide.
On the eve of Australia Day, a statue of Captain James Cook, who first claimed the territory for Britain, was sawn off at the ankles, while a monument to Queen Victoria was doused in red paint.
Polls show a majority of Australians want to keep the public holiday, but are split roughly 50-50 about changing the date.
Indigenous people represent just under 4 percent of Australia’s 26 million population and are the nation’s most disadvantaged ethnic minority.