New citizens are being welcomed to Australia as thousands turn out for rallies across the country

Amy Ying Yee Ting has lived in Australia longer than in Malaysia, where she is originally from.

On Monday she was among 23 people who became Australian citizens at a citizenship ceremony in Canberra.

Ting told SBS News it was a “magical moment”.

“I chose this place, and this place chose me. It’s amazing,” she said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who attended the ceremony in Canberra, told the 23 new Australians that they had “come to a country where democracy is not just a commonplace, but something that is put into practice”.

“Whether we are Australian by birth or by choice, we all share the opportunity, the privilege and also the responsibility to be part of something very special.

“A nation built on hope and hard work, ambition and determination, a society guided by freedom and fairness, compassion and courage.”

More than 300 ceremonies were held across Australia on Monday to welcome 18,800 new citizens from more than 150 countries.

Thousands of people also turned out for competing rallies, including Invasion Day rallies in every capital. The date has drawn annual protests since 1938, when First Nations people inaugurated a Day of Mourning.

The March for Australia rallies, whose attendees have voiced concerns about immigration and cost-of-living pressures, also saw turnouts in major cities.

Two men were arrested over separate incidents in Perth and Sydney. In Perth’s CBD, Invasion Day protesters were told to leave the area after a man allegedly threw a device into the crowd. Police are investigating whether it was an explosive.

Police said they arrested a 31-year-old man and found a device made of ball bearings and screws wrapped around an “unidentified liquid” in a glass container.

The device did not explode and no one was injured. The man has not been charged.

“Forensics are currently doing what they need to do to identify what that liquid is,” WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch told reporters in Perth. He said there is no ongoing threat to the community.

A man who attended a rally in Sydney has been charged with publicly inciting racial hatred.

“We will argue that the language he used, his presence, was clearly and unequivocally attributed to neo-Nazi ideology,” NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Brett McFadden told reporters.

Calls to change the date ignite again

Large crowds braved extreme heat in parts of the country to rally to change the date of Australia Day or replace it with a day of mourning.

In Melbourne, participants in the Invasion Day protest gathered outside Victoria’s Parliament House.

“[This is] to acknowledge that this land was colonized on this date, so that First People have time and space to grieve and come together,” said community organizer Tarneen Onus Browne.

In Sydney, the Invasion Day march drew a heavy police presence as tens of thousands of protesters gathered in the CBD.

The march, which also attracted pro-Palestinian activists, had a strong focus on indigenous deaths in custody.

Gomeroi woman Gwenda Stanley says for her, today is a day of mourning – and she takes heart from the thousands who attended Invasion Day rallies across the country.

“Today is about a day of mourning. In 1838 the Australia Day Waterloo Creek Massacre happened. So since 1838 we have been mourning,” she said.

“This is a day about acknowledging the past. But it is also a trauma that is embedded in us. So we mourn – not just today but every other day. It is this very day that causes their trauma.”

Anti-immigration protests were held amid heat waves

March for Australia protests also took place in metropolitan and regional cities, with hundreds of Australian flags waving.

Brief clashes between opposing protest groups were reported in several cities.

At the March for Australia rally in Melbourne, chants of “deportation” and “send them back” could be heard as attendees waved Australian flags and carried signs in support of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party.

As the group moved towards the steps of the state parliament, loud cheers erupted as protesters passed the Immigration Museum.

Speaking at the meeting in Brisbane, Hanson told the audience: “I have never felt more honored and proud than I do to be here today.”

“Thank you for flying the Australian flag and showing pride in our country.”

Supporters attended an anti-immigration rally in Sydney on Australia Day. Source: MONKEY / Flavio Brancaleone

The protests took place as heatwaves hit Adelaide and Brisbane, hitting 46 degrees and 36 degrees Celsius respectively.

A recent Roy Morgan survey found that 72 percent of respondents support keeping Australia’s national day on January 26.

An AMES Australia survey of recent migrants and refugees also found strong support for Australia Day, with almost 80 percent of 120 respondents saying a national day is important.

Although most newcomers planned to celebrate the day, almost 60 percent were unaware of the significance of January 26, with many only beginning to learn about the controversy surrounding the dispossession of Indigenous Australians.

— Additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press.

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