Thursday 22 September 2022 07:02 PM Protesters in Australia torch national flag as they demand Monarchy is abolished trends now
Hundreds of protesters rallied in Australia today and called for the monarchy to be 'abolished', with some demonstrators burning the Australian flag and smearing red paint on the British consulate, just hours after a national memorial service was held to mourn Queen Elizabeth II.
'Abolish the Monarchy' demonstrators gathered in cities including Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, protesting the persecution of Indigenous people since the British landed in Australia more than two centuries ago.
In Melbourne, protesters cut up the Australian flag, which includes the British Union Jack, while others in Brisbane set their flags on fire on top of a pile of flaming newspapers.
In an address to protesters in Melbourne, Lidia Thorpe, a Federal Greens senator in the Australian parliament of Aboriginal heritage, accused the British monarchy of having 'blood on their hands'.
Australia is one of the few former British colonies that never struck a treaty with the Indigenous population.
The country marked Thursday as a day of national mourning following the Queen's death on September 8.
But Thorpe shouted to the crowd of protesters in Melbourne: 'The Crown has blood on their hands. Our people are still dying in this country every single day. The Crown's boot is on our neck and we're sick of it.'
The group then smeared red dye, resembling blood, over an emblem on the British Consulate in Melbourne.
Meanwhile, in Brisbane, hundreds of protesters gathered, with one shouting: 'Our message to England and the Monarchy is to f**king burn.'
Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe roused a large crowd of activists in Melbourne with an impassioned speech and 'bloodstained' hand (pictured)
Protest leaders set an Australian flag on fire in an intense display during Brisbane's 'Abolish the Monarchy' protests
Protestors holding placards which read 'abolish the monarchy' protest outside the British Consulate General office on Thursday in Melbourne
'Abolish the Monarchy' demonstrators gathered in cities including Sydney, Melbourne (pictured) and Canberra, protesting the persecution of Indigenous people since the British landed in Australia more than two centuries ago
The explosive protests across the country saw a group of elders burn Australian flags in Brisbane and activists in Melbourne smear red dye on the British Consulate (pictured)
Protesters smeared red dye over an emblem at the British Consulate in the Melbourne rally (pictured)
In Sydney, scores of people came together near a statue of Queen Victoria in the city centre before marching through the streets.
'I think the monarchy needs to be aware that there's unfinished business happening here in Australia,' said Gwenda Stanley, a 49-year-old activist of the Indigenous Gomeroi people.
'The monarch is nothing to mourn about, it is something if anything for our people to rejoice,' she said, calling for the return of Indigenous lands and restitution for 'war crimes'.
'The monarchy needs to be abolished, it should have been many years ago,' said 24-year-old Indigenous activist Paul Silva.
'First Nations people within Australia are still fighting for their traditional lands,' he added.
'We demand that they return those lands to the traditional owners.'
'We don't need the numbers, we just need the passion,' another protester said in Brisbane, while other demonstrators held a banner which read: 'No Kings, No Cops, No Capitalists'.
Hundreds of protesters rallied in Australia today and called for the monarchy to be 'abolished'
Activists set fire to newspapers and Australian flags at Brisbane's 'Abolish the Monarchy' protest
Police were seen with a man on the ground during the Melbourne anti-monarchy protest which saw activists marching down the CBD
Other protesters at the rally wore shirts calling for the national Australia Day to be abolished.
Australia Day, held on January 26 every year, is a controversial date in the
