Aboriginal activists leading an ‘Invasion Day’ rally in Sydney are calling for Australia Day to be abolished altogether.
Ken Canning and Elizabeth Jarrett say they are not content with a change of date, and no date should be celebrated while Aboriginal people continue to suffer.
Mr Canning described the police and ‘white authorities’ as a ‘branch of the KKK’ and has called Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull a ‘murdering colonial leader’ in the past.
Aboriginal activists leading an ‘Invasion Day’ rally in Sydney are calling for Australia Day to be abolished altogether (pictured is Elizabeth Jarrett)
Ken Canning (pictured, right) and Elizabeth Jarrett say they are not content with a change of date, and no date should be celebrated while Aboriginal people continue to suffer
Ms Jarrett, who describes herself as a ‘warrior’ and worked at the Indigenous Social Justice Association, said the Hawaiians ‘did us a favour’ by killing Captain Cook.
She called January 26 the date when massacres and rapes began and said it marked the beginning of ‘ongoing genocide’, News.com.au reported.
‘There are so many days to choose. This day is just offensive and most people think they are celebrating Captain Cook. They are wrong, although he was the first to invade,’ she said.
Mr Canning, an Aboriginal support worker, said no date is appropriate for a national celebration while deaths in custody continue.
Ms Jarrett (pictured), who describes herself as a ‘warrior’ and worked at the Indigenous Social Justice Association, said the Hawaiians ‘did us a favour’ by killing Captain Cook
Mr Canning (pictured, left) described the police and ‘white authorities’ as a ‘branch of the KKK’ and has called Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull a ‘murdering colonial leader’ in the past
‘I don’t want to see any date under this regime which has the highest amount of deaths in custody per head of any group in the world,’ he said.
‘I don’t think you can celebrate a day that was the beginning of the attempted genocide of our peoples.’
Mr Canning said he was not blaming non-Aborginal Australians, but the government was lagging behind.
When Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Mr Turnbull in October 2017, he posted a photo of the pair shaking hands on Facebook.
His caption read: ‘Two murdering colonial leaders meet to congratulate each other on their continued genocide of innocent peoples’.
Mr Canning, an Aboriginal support worker, said no date is appropriate for a national celebration while deaths in custody continue (pictured is an Aboriginal activist rally)
Mr Canning also posted an image of the Ku Klux Klan with the caption: ‘Typical Australian governmental task force responsible for inquiries into Aboriginal murders in custody.’
Mr Canning and Ms Jarrett are listed as MCs of the Sydney Invasion Day Rally at The Block in Redfern beginning at 10am today.
Ms Jarrett has been a fixture at previous rallies, and performed a poem she wrote about Australia Day at the 2016 event.
‘This rally will mark 230 years since British military forces invaded Gadigal land and declared British rule over this continent,’ the rally’s invitation reads.
‘While colonial regime [sic] continues to hold a day of celebration, we resist the ongoing war against Aboriginal people.’
Mr Canning (pictured) and Ms Jarrett are listed as MCs of the Sydney Invasion Day Rally at The Block in Redfern beginning at 10am today
When Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (pictured, right) met Mr Turnbull (pictured, left) in October 2017, Mr Canning posted a photo of the pair shaking hands on Facebook
Mr Canning’s caption read: ‘Two murdering colonial leaders meet to congratulate each other on their continued genocide of innocent peoples’ (pictured)
‘From the brutalisation of black youth in detention, the murder of men and women in custody, the theft of children from families.
‘The destruction of Aboriginal lands to feed corporate profits, the apartheid NT Intervention, the forced removal of communities.
‘First Nations on this continent are under heavy assault from a new wave of dispossession.’
‘Invasion Day’ rallies are also being held in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra, Adelaide, Darwin, Townsville, Hobart, Lismore, Bermagui and in Berlin, Germany.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Mr Canning and Ms Jarrett for comment.