Aussies unleashed! Boozed-up revellers let their hair down for wild Australia Day celebrations

Australian revellers let their hair down today as they enjoyed a wild day of boozy celebrations for their national Australia Day, a year after they were banned from partying due to Covid restrictions. 

Millions hit the coast on Wednesday and enjoyed boozy BBQs and backyard cricket while beaches were filled with Australians who waved their national flags in the sunshine.

As night fell, the partying didn’t stop, with Australians changing out of their bikinis and swim shorts and donning their best party outfits before heading out to celebrate in cities across Australia.

They took full advantage of Australia’s relaxed Covid rules, after they were banned last year from partying in large groups on Australia Day under social distancing rules. 

But others marked the national day in a very different way on Wednesday, with scores of other Australians staging mass protests and calling for the date to be axed.    

Australia Day, held on January 26 every year, is a controversial date in the calendar because it marks the anniversary of British colonisation of the country – with Indigenous activists naming it ‘Invasion Day’. 

For many Australia meant just one thing – a day at the beach with mates (pictured, pals enjoy the sun at Wave Break Island on the Gold Coast)

Australia Day revellers at Wave Break Island on the Gold Coast were fighting for the right to party (pictured)

Australian revellers let their hair down today as they enjoyed a wild day of boozy celebrations for their national Australia Day, a year after they were banned from partying due to Covid restrictions

Revellers celebrate Australia Day by drinking booze and dancing in the sunset at Bondi beach on Wednesday

The party-goers took full advantage of Australia’s relaxed Covid rules, after they were banned last year from partying in large groups on Australia Day under social distancing rules.

Two women enjoy Australia Day by dancing on the beach on Wednesday at Bondi Beach in Australia

Two women share a kiss while out celebrating Australia Day in Melbourne. Millions hit the coast on Wednesday and enjoyed traditional BBQs and backyard cricket on the beaches

Protesters hold placards as they march during an Invasion Day rally in Sydney, on Wednesday

But millions decided to put on their best frocks and party throughout the night on Wednesday in cities across Australia. 

At the same time, scores of Indigenous rights activists took to the streets of the Australian capital Canberra and cities across the country and called for the national day to be shifted from January 26 – a date many Indigenous people mark with mourning ceremonies. 

Argument rages over how history should remember a fleet of 11 British ships carrying a human cargo of convicts arriving at Port Jackson in present-day Sydney on January 26, 1788. 

For indigenous Australians, Australia Day marks the start of white colonisation and persecution, including massacres of their people.  

Protesters highlight that a penal colony was built on land taken from Indigenous inhabitants without the negotiation of a treaty. The lack of any treaty with Indigenous populations puts Australia out of step with comparable countries including the United States, Canada and New Zealand.

But scores of Australians decided to celebrate Australia Day, with many seen wearing the Australian flag over their swimsuits as they partied. For for some, the celebrations ended early after one man was seen being arrested by officers who were enforcing a ban of alcohol in Melbourne. 

Last year, they were banned from celebrating Australia Day in the same way as the Australian government had imposed social distancing rules. But many decided to defy the rules and many flocked to popular hotspots such as Bondi Beach and the Gold Coast where they partied with little social distancing in sight to mark Australia Day in 2021. 

On Wednesday, the Australian government noted the day was marked by more than 16,000 immigrants from 150 nations becoming Australian citizens in more than 400 ceremonies across Australia.   

A group of women enjoy Australia Day in their bikinis in Gold Coast on Wednesday 

Scores of Australians decided to celebrate Australia Day, with many seen wearing the Australian flag over their swimsuits as they partied

A group of party-goers dance as they enjoy Australia Day on Wednesday in Bondi 

Australia Day meant lots of Australians took the beaches to enjoy a wild day of celebrations

Young Australians were seen on Wednesday heading for a night out in Melbourne on Australia Day

Australians continued the Australia Day celebrations into the evening, with many seen glammed up on the streets of Melbourne

Some ceremonies were smaller than usual and conducted online because of the rapid spread of the coronavirus in Australia’s most populous states.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison lead a ceremony in the national capital Canberra and gave special thanks to Indigenous elder Aunty Violet who welcomed the gathering to her traditional land.

‘On this, our national day, we begin by honoring the traditional custodians on the land on which we are gathered here today – the Ngunnawal people – and those who have traveled here, met here, and felt at home and been welcomed on this country for thousands of years,’ Morrison said.

‘Today there are thousands of gatherings across our country, each reflecting in a different way and celebrating our love of Australia,’ Morrison added.

Morrison was instrumental in changing a lyric of the national anthem, ‘Advance Australia Fair,’ last year in response to complaints that Indigenous Australians, who account for 3% of the population, were excluded from its message.

Australians went from ‘young and free’ to ‘one and free,’ acknowledging that the land had been inhabited for tens of thousands of years before Europeans arrived.

In Australia, the traditional celebration of the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 was marked by a sensational aerobatics display by the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) newest fighter jet, the F35A Lightning II, which lit up the skies over Sydney.

The RAAF stepped in with the deafening but spectacular airshow after Qantas and other airlines declined to do the traditional city centre flyover.

Instead the crowds were treated to the breathtaking display by the RAAF which said it was ‘proud to participate in Australia Day 2022 events’.

A statement added: ‘Australia Day is held annually on January 26 to reflect on our nation’s past and celebrate the Australian spirit, mateship and sense of community.’  

Beaches across Australia were filled with Australians who waved the national flags in the sunshine. Pictured: Beachgoers at Cronulla Beach in Sydney on Wednesday 

An Aussie flag was the essential beach accessory at Wave Break Island on the Gold Coast (pictured) as friends gathered to celebrate

Town Hall in Sydney had people in every direction keen to take part in the Invasion Day protest as thousands gathered

Protestors in Sydney (pictured) made their way from Town Hall to Victoria Park on Wednesday in Sydney calling for the Australia Day date to be changed

In Brisbane, rain failed to dampen the spirits of those who attended the Invasion Day rally as activists demanded the Australia Day date be changed in respect for Aboriginal people killed on the date

Elsewhere though thousands of grim-faced demonstrators gathered in cities across Australia to march through the streets calling for Australia Day to be ditched.

The Indigenous perspective is gaining traction in a debate that has simmered for decades over whether Australia’s national day should be shifted from Jan. 26 – a date many Indigenous people mark with mourning ceremonies.

In Canberra, activists marked 50 years since four Indigenous men gathered around a beach umbrella which they called an Aboriginal Embassy pitched on the lawns of what was then Parliament House. 

Sydney was brimming with thousands of activists, while plenty of protestors ignored rain in Brisbane to attend an Invasion Day rally. 

A speaker at a rally in Sydney told the passionate crowd now was the opportune time to change the date of Australia Day from January 26.

‘Today’s a national holiday where you’re told to go and have a bbq and a beer…. to celebrate our genocide,’ she said.

‘I pay my respects to all First Nations here, to all of us feeling proud to be here today but yet sad in knowing why we have to stand here.

‘Why do we have to promote our invasion to make sure Australia sees us, to make sure our murders stop, the raping of our women, the stealing of our children, the poisoning of our land and rivers, the denunciation of our languages. It’s disgusting.’

There were similar scenes in Brisbane, where activists ignored morning rain to march in large numbers in and around Melbourne.

Beaches up and down the country were filled with happy flag-waving Aussies (pictured) as millions embraced the spirit of Australia Day in the brilliant summer sunshine

Aussies of every age enjoyed  the chance to celebrate Australia’s history (pictured, a couple relax by the beachside at Cronulla in Sydney)

Australians flocked to the beaches in Australia to mark the country’s national day. Pictured: People enjoy Australia Day at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Wednesday

Freinds and family took the chance to put the last two years of Covid behind them and enjoy Australia Day together (pictured, friends meet up at Sydney’s Coogee Beach)

Police presents was felt as police in cars and on foot were seen in numbers enforcing a ban on alcohol in the area. One individual was arrested after he was searched

On January 26 in 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip raised the British flag at Sydney Cove and proclaimed British sovereignty (pictured, celebrations in Sydney)

Many were keen to fly the flag for Australia Day, while also using it as a windbreak (pictured)

Aboriginal flags were in every direction in Sydney as protestors called for Australia Day not to be celebrated on January 26

A speaker in Sydney said now was time to change the date of Australia Day from January 26

Activists also gathered in Canberra (pictured) before a planned march to Old Parliament on Wednesday morning

Plenty used hand-written signs to express their views, including these three protestors (pictured)

Activists were spotted using hand written signs to convey their views on the plight of the Indigenous in Australia

Crowds are building at an Invasion Day rally in the Sydney (pictured) where thousands of people have been met by a large police presence outside Town Hall

The passionate protests came as Prime Minister Scott Morrison and other dignitaries gathered in Canberra for an Australia Day citizenship and flag-raising ceremony on Wednesday morning.

At the same time, a large number of Indigenous people dressed in traditional garb conducted a ceremony at nearby Garema Place in the nation’s capital before a minute’s silence was held for ‘the warriors before us’. 

Stalls and speech tents were also set up at the tent embassy, situated near Old Parliament House. 

Speaking after the citizenship ceremony, federal Labor Leader Anthony Albanese said it was important to recognise Australia’s history went back at least 60,000 years.

‘Which is why one of my priorities will be to recognise First Nations people in Australia’s constitution,’ he told reporters.

‘We should be very proud that we are home to the oldest continuous civilisation on the planet.’ 

In Melbourne, a statue of Captain James Cook was smeared with red paint overnight by protestors.

The statue was found defaced in Catani Gardens, St Kilda, with Victoria Police condemning the ‘absolutely ridiculous’ act.

‘Whilst we understand people have certain views about this day, we always ask people to be respectful and blatant criminal activity like that will not be tolerated,’ Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir told the Today Show.

It isn’t the first time the statue has been targeted. In 2018, vandals wrote ‘no pride in genocide’ on the statue and poured pink paint over Cook’s head.

In Melbourne suburb St Kilda, a statue of Captain James Cook was vandalised (pictured)

Other protestors in Sydney stressed the need for black deaths in police custody to end and that Invasion Day needs to be properly acknowledged

Numbers quickly swelled in Sydney as protestors marched from Sydney Town Hall to Victoria Park

Two girls look on as they sit near two men during a night out in Melbourne during Australia Day celebrations

A group of friends enjoy Australia Day celebrations on Wednesday night in Melbourne

Police officers ride through Melbourne on the evening of Australia Day as many were out celebrating

Australians enjoyed dinner and wine during their Australia Day celebrations in Melbourne on Wednesday

Australians flocked to the city centres to enjoy an evening of Australia Day celebrations on Wednesday night

As night fell, the partying didn’t stop, with Australians changing out of their bikinis and swim shorts and donning their best party outfits 

On January 26 in 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip raised the British flag at Sydney Cove and proclaimed British sovereignty. 

The move led to the dispossession of Indigenous peoples from the land they had inhabited for thousands of years before the arrival of the First Fleet. 

Indigenous activists now inhabit a permanent collection of shelters known as the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the same grounds. But the original Parliament House they once challenged is now a museum. The lawmakers moved away in 1988 to the current Parliament House.

The 1972 Aboriginal Embassy was a protest against the then government’s refusal to consider returning land to traditional owners.

Three years later, a different government struck a deal with a British cattle company to return to the Gurindji people a lease over their traditional land. It was a major win in the Indigenous land rights movement.