This year's Australia Day celebrations in major cities were especially marked by protest because for many it was a reminder of a profound loss – the loss of Aboriginal peoples' sovereign rights to their lands. For the First Nations people, the significance of 26 January is to mark the arrival of white people to Australia. Thus it is the anniversary of Invasion Day.
Dewi Anggraeni is an Indonesian writer and journalist based in Melbourne.
She believed that no matter what day Australia Day was celebrated or commemorated, it would always be considered invasion day if the reason was to celebrate the arrival of white people in Australia.
Therefore, if the date is to be changed later, it must have some other reasons than a celebration of the occupation of the Europeans and the loss of Aboriginal land and their right to practice their culture.
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