Australia Day: Northern Territory turns out to commemorate January 26
Updated
A ute convoy, protests and citizenship ceremonies have marked Australia Day events in the Northern Territory.
In Darwin the day began with the annual fun run.
Although weather forecasters had been predicted it could be wet, the rain held off, allowing people to participate in the 2.5-kilometre or 5-kilometre run.
Later, more than 300 utes adorned with Australian flags swarmed into the city's Hidden Valley race track, gathering for the 16th annual ute muster run through Darwin's northern suburbs.
Among the gimmicks and decorations was a tarpaulin-turned-paddling pool on one ute tray and a portable barbecue used to cook bacon and eggs on another.
A small handful of Aboriginal flags flew in the sea of blue, red and white. Larrakia man Dakota Browne said it was a flag he flew with pride.
"I've been flying this flag since I was a little kid, every Australia Day, just to represent our people," he said.
Elsewhere in town about 60 people who had come from Britain to Zimbabwe attended a citizenship ceremony at the Darwin Convention Centre.
They ranged from a 70-year-old woman who had been living in Australia for 30 years before she decided to finally become a citizen, to a Romanian family of four who came to Australia four years ago sponsored by the Northern Territory Government.
Acting Chief Minister Natasha Files, administrator John Hardy and former chief minister Marshall Perron were all at the ceremony.
In Alice Springs there was also a citizenship ceremony, and a commemoration of for the day described by some Indigenous people as Invasion Day.
January 26 marks the day in 1788 that British Captain Arthur Phillip anchored in Sydney Cove and claimed possession of the land in the name of King George III.
The peaceful demonstration of about 50 people chanted "there's no pride in genocide" and called for January 26 to be a day of national mourning, not celebration.
"We want a treaty, not a token position on the constitution," attendee Pat Ansell Dodds said.
"Get over it, we want our proper rights in this country, and we've never had it."
Kirra Voller, the sister of former youth Don Dale detainee Dylan Voller, said it was time to change the date of Australia's national day.
"We're still celebrating something on a day that was basically trying to wipe out all of everything that was here now," Ms Voller said.
Topics: australia-day, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, darwin-0800, alice-springs-0870
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