"I am woman, hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore."
Helen Reddy's 1971 call to action made a comeback as the catch-cry of the day in Sydney on Saturday, as thousands joined the women's march against newly-minted US President Donald Trump and the global far-right movement.
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Thousands protest Trump at Sydney 'sister march'
Protestors march in Sydney on Saturday afternoon' at one of the hundreds of womens' marches planned around the world in a show of disapproval of US President Donald Trump as he began his first day in office.
Organisers of the Women's March on Sydney had expected around 1000 to turn up in solidarity with hundreds of thousands marching on Washington, but the numbers that gathered at Hyde Park eclipsed their estimate multiple times over. Amanda White said their initial goal was 300 people, and the final result was between 8000 and 10,000.
In Melbourne about 5000 people marched against "misogyny, bigotry and hatred" from the State Library to Parliament House.
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Following the tragic events in Bourke Street on Friday, the route for the march was changed "out of respect for the victims and their families" to avoid the mall altogether, an organiser said.
Holding signs bearing slogans like "a woman's place is in the revolution" and, quoting Hillary Clinton's now iconic 1995 speech to the UN, "women's rights are human rights", the Sydney crowd gathered beside the War Memorial's shimmering pool of reflection to hear from speakers, before marching through the CBD to Martin Place.
Unity and action were the themes of the day, with speakers including anti-Islamophobia advocate Mariam Veiszadeh encouraging women to recognise and accept the existence of different aims and agendas, and join to fight a common enemy.
"There should be no competition when it comes to suffering, and all [marginalised groups] are important," she said.
Wearing a T-shirt protesting the death in custody of Aboriginal woman Ms Dhu, Indigenous elder and activist Jenny Munro said the problems America is seeing in relation to racism are "close to home." As is respect for the environment and land.
"We are here and we have this world to live in. We have to ensure that the world survives, what we have to do is what our people have done for millennia: maintain country, maintain nature."
Women of all ages and walks of life took part in the march – including many Americans currently living in or visiting Australia.
Those Americans include Dr Mindy Freiband, a New York native and lifelong activist who decided to get involved with the Sydney march because she was unable to join her family in Washington.
"As it turns out, there are quite a few of you who share my concerns," she told the crowd. "There are quite a few of us, around the world, who share my concerns. And we are not going to be quiet until those concerns are addressed."
Michelle Fandrich marched with her husband Christopher Fandrich and their eight-year-old son Xander, all from Austin, Texas.
"We are glad to have somewhere to march," Christopher said. Xander added that he was marching "to say rights are rights and women's rights are human rights and we are all equal."
Sydneysider Anna Glen, 25, had a 'Love Trumps Hate' poster which she said she picked up while travelling in the US at election time. "We carried it around America with us," she said.
"Women's rights isn't where we would like it to be, and Trump being elected feels like a step backwards for us. We are here to support America and also women's rights more broadly and show strength."
Despite a handful of Donald Trump supporters appearing – complete with Confederate flags – at Martin Place, the march ended on a high note as the crowd joined in singing Reddy's I Am Woman – a song that appears as relevant as ever almost half a century later.
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