Sydney Invasion Day rally recreates historic march

Impassioned speeches were heard on the steps of Sydney's Town Hall, before attendees marched to the historic site of the first Day of Mourning in 1938.

Sydney Invasion Day rally attendees outside Australia Hall Source: AAP

Thousands turned out for the annual Invasion Day rally on Gadigal Land in Sydney, where speakers told stories of injustice and called for the date of the national public holiday to be changed.

Dunghutti man Paul Silva urged people around the country to pause and consider what the day means to First Nations people. 

"Most people would have woken up today planning their barbeque," he told NITV News. 

"I woke up with tears rolling down my cheeks."

Mr Silva is a nephew of David Dungay Jr, a Dunghutti man who died in 2015 after prison officers stormed his cell at Sydney's Long Bay Jail and restrained him. He is an advocate for abolishing the celebrations all together.

Paul Silva, a nephew of David Dungay Jr, is seen during an Invasion Day rally, in Sydney. Source: Bianca De Marchi

"(The day) means nothing to me, it never will. It does not represent First Nations people. Who would want to celebrate a date (the commemorates) the murder of First Nations people, on us?"

Protesters then moved in a silent march toward Australia Hall on Elizabeth Street, before continuing on to the Yabun Festival in Victoria Park, where the day's festivities continued.

This year's event was particularly sentimental, with the rally also celebrating 50 years of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, and marking 234 years since British military forces landed on Gadigal land and declared British rule over the continent.

Organisers labelled the commemorative event as an "earth breaking moment in history" which put the struggle for Land Rights on the national agenda.

Thousands of protesters hold placards during a recreation of the 1938 Day of Mourning march. Source: AAP

This year, event organisers also reminded attendees that just like in previous years, those participating in the rally will be doing so in an act of resistance against continued systematic racism, Indigenous deaths in custody and ongoing colonialism.

Due to the rates of COVID-19 in New South Wales, they also requested the use of face masks and social distancing, and prompted anyone unwell or with flu-like symptoms to remain at home.