Australia Day 2025 LIVE UPDATES: Three-word chant inflames tensions at Invasion Day rally as mounted cops keep close eye on 30,000-strong demonstration

A group of alleged neo-Nazi’s have disrupted a ‘Survival Day’ rally in Adelaide with police making several arrests.

It’s understood an activist march due to end at the South Australian capital’s Victoria Square was delayed due to he prescence of the counter-protesters.

Members of the National Socialist Network, one of Australia’s largest neo-Nazi groups, were seen dressed in black and waving the Australian flag.

A police spokesperson told the Adelaide Advertiser that ‘a number of arrests have been made’.

When the publication asked if those arrested were neo-Nazis, police said they were ‘unrelated’ to the Survival Day march.

‘The individuals are in the process of being charged and more details will be provided when known,’ the spokesperson said.

The clash comes following a peaceful start to the morning when locals visited Tarntanya Wama (Elder Park) for a smoking ceremony.

The annual Mourning in Morning attracted a crowd of 3,000 people.

Director of Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation Kirstie Parker was the master of the ceremony.

‘This morning’s event has been categorised in a lot of ways, but the one that sits with me is unity and reflection,’ she said.

‘It’s also an opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, First Nations people to say simply, staunchly and unapologetically and proudly that we are still here and we always will be.’

Anti-Australia Day protesters have been chanting ‘F*** the police’ at a rally in Melbourne on Sunday, as similar rallies take place in cities and towns across the country.

Mounted police in Melbourne are on standby amid the chants as the crowd number passes 20,000 and parts of the city are brought to a standstill, with shops shut or having police protection outside them.

The police have even had to block off the Flinders Street train station area in the CBD.

This truck driver was forced to wait out the disruption, while many CBD businesses closed their doors.

Many shops have been shuttered on Swanston St, one of Melbourne’s most vibrant strips.

A Melbourne CBD McDonalds still had its doors open, but it was being protected by a line of police officers.

The police have placed the historic Flinders Street Station precinct in Melbourne’s CBD in lockdown.

Swanston Streer in Melbourne’s CBD is jam packed all the way back to Bourke Street.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was ‘disappointed’ Opposition leader Peter Dutton was nowhere to be seen at the Australia Day ceremony in Canberra.

‘They should be bipartisan, and I attended every year as opposition leader here at the Australia Day events, and I attended the Australian of the Year Awards as well when I was invited,’ he said.

‘This is an inspirational day, here on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, and last night – it is one of the best events that anyone could ever go to.

‘Why wouldn’t you participate in national events if you want to be a national leader?’

Mr Dutton is understood to be in his homestate of Queensland.

Tony Abbott delivered a citizenship speech in the south-western Sydney suburb of Liverpool on Sunday, in which he defend the legacy of the First Fleet.

The former prime minister, who himself was born in the UK, said that ‘Unlike those who were born here, you have voted with your feet for this country’.

‘I think that says something wonderful about you. It shows great judgment on your part. I think it says something wonderful about us that you are the latest of the millions of people who over the last 200 years, have chosen to make Australia their home.’

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Mr Abbott said: ‘On that first Australia Day, January the 26th 1788, as Governor Philip and his officers hoisted the flag and toasted the king, they weren’t bringing something alien.

‘They were bringing the foundations of modern Australia. Democracy, the rule of law, minority rights and scientific progress, all of which has contributed to the great country we are today, all of which indeed is at the heart of the great country we are today.’

Sussan Ley has used her Australia Day speech in the regional city of Albury, NSW to compare the First Fleet to Elon Musk’s plan to colonise Mars.

‘All those years ago, those ships did not arrive, as some would have you believe, as invaders, the Deputy Opposision leader told the crowd in St Matthew’s Anglican Church in her electorate of Farrer.

‘They did not come to destroy or to pillage.

‘In what could be compared to Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s efforts to build a new colony on Mars, men in boats arrived on the edge of the known world to embark on that new experiment.

‘A new experiment and a new society.

‘And just like astronauts arriving on Mars, those first settlers would be confronted with a different and strange world, full of danger, adventure and potential,’ the keen flyer said.

‘We need to reject what those mobs are saying today through their loudspeakers and their iPhones.

‘The problem with those activists is they are so fixated with projecting themselves as survivors, that they leave no room for us to come together as citizens.

‘And history shows us strong and successful societies are not made up of survivors, they are built and maintained by citizens.

‘So we have to stand up against what those people are peddling today. We should be proud of being Australian and our Australia Day.’

The Invasion Day protest in Melbourne is heading towards Swanston Street and Bourke Street Mall in the CBD.

Indigenous Australians and supporters have gathered in Brisbane’s city centre for an Invasion Day protest to counter Australia Day on Sunday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended a citizenship ceremony in Canberra on Sunday.

‘Today, in our big cities and country towns, at beaches and backyard barbecues, and in over 280 ceremonies like this one, we celebrate everything that brings Australia together and everything that sets our nation apart from the world,’ he said.

‘We look back on all that we have built together and all that we have learned from each other.

‘And we look to the future with the optimism and determination that the Australian people bring to the life of our nation, each and every day.

‘We all belong to the same proud story. We are all part of a nation built by hope and hard work, aspiration and determination.

‘A democracy where every citizen counts themselves equal.

‘A society where your character counts for more than your name, where your hard work matters more than where you come from.’

Some 15,000 people will be attending one of the 280 citizenship ceremonies being held across the country.

A massive crowd has gathered at the state parliament in Melbourne to protest against Australia Day, with many carrying banners calling for the day to be abolished.

Elder Uncle Moogy Sumner is pictured giving a Welcome to Kaurna Country during the 2025 Mourning in the Morning Smoking Ceremony at Elder Park/Tarntanya Wama on Sunday in Adelaide.

Premier of South Australia Peter Malinauskas (2nd right) is pictured at the 2025 Mourning in the Morning Smoking Ceremony at Elder Park.

Paul Shapiro writes, from Melbourne: ‘Businesses along the Bourke St protest route, which is usually a bustling CBD precinct on Sundays, have closed down after police issued a warning 30,000 protesters were expected.

‘The businesses include the iconic Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar and a 7 Eleven with a notice saying “store closed for temporary cleaning” in what would be the first time in decades a 7 Eleven has closed even for a minute in Melbourne.’

Burrundi Theatre for Performing Arts performers have posed for photos during the smoking ceremony at WugulOra sand circle on Sunday in Sydney.

WugulOra means ‘one mob’ and represents all Indigenous cultures.

The surest sign that the police are prepared for trouble today in Melbourne is the sheer size of the vehicle they have on stand by to hold anybody they need to quickly remove from the scene, and the buses used to ferry the police to the protest frontline.

‘Police have the motor running on a back up van while Highway Patrol have roads closed at Albert and Spring St and Bourke and Exhibition St,’ Paul Shapiro writes.

‘Tram routes 86 and the key 96 tram route from Brunswick to St Kilda have been closed at the St Vincent Hospital stop.’

There are four small police vans which can haul 4-6 people each and two big one wagons that can hold 8-12 people each.

So, there are vehicles on the scene with the capacity to haul up to 48 unruly agitators away, if necessary.

In a statement earlier this week, Victoria Police said it had ‘been extensively planning for Australia Day and the associated community events and rallies.

‘We’re well prepared for all major events and will have a highly visible presence throughout the entire CBD to ensure they can occur safely.

‘General duties police will be supported by the Mounted Branch, Highway Patrol, Bike Patrol Unit, Public Order Response Team, Transit police and PSOs throughout the day and night.

‘There will be a number of traffic management points in place across the city so we ask that people be patient, plan their journey and allow extra travel time.’

Daily Mail Australia’s Paul Shapiro is reporting from the streets of Melbourne on Sunday.

He says there is a strong police presence, with about 100 officers where he is, but it’s quiet so far, so they don’t have a whole lot to do.

‘There are pockets of pro-Palestinian and “invasion day” protesters setting up,’ he said.

Overall, around 3,000 people have gathered so far, but organisers say they are expecting 30,000.

There are no agitators on the scene, a pro-Australia day protest has been organised for the front of the arts centre but not that many are expected at that.

Triple J’s Hottest 100 was announced yesterday, and as usual it caused a kerfuffle. You can’t please all the people all of the time, so the national ‘youth’ broadcaster gets the blame again.

Let us know in the comments who you think should have come out on top of Triple J’s annual list.

Another superb story by Stephen Gibbs, explaining what many people don’t fully understand.

In case you missed this one yesterday, here it is again.

Former footy great Neale Daniher, whose brave and very public battle against motor neurone disease has raised more than $100million to help find a cure, has been named the 2025 Australian of the Year.

Gina Rinehart will celebrate Australia Day surrounded by family in Washington DC before attending an exclusive soiree in honour of one of the nation’s greatest sporting exports.

Indigenous Australians were called ‘blacks’ and ‘natives’ at the time of white settlement and over the past two centuries have been subjected to far more racist labels.

Sam Newman has been accused of an astonishing act of disrespect during an ‘Acknowledgement of Country’ in Victoria.

The former Footy Show host and AFL great was among the guests at an Australia Day function at the state’s Government House on Wednesday.

According to another guest at the event, when governor of Victoria Margaret Gardner began an Acknowledgment of Country, Newman could be seen turning his back and heading for the exit.

Australia Day, called ‘Invasion Day’ by Indigenous Australians, its January 26 date and the festivities held on the day are increasingly a point of division in Australian society.

January 26 marks the day of the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and the raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip, the colony’s first governor.

A ‘dawn service’ was held in the eastern suburbs on Sunday to mark Australia Day.

Waverley Council – which incorporates the well-heeled eastern suburbs of Bondi, Bronte, Rose Bay, Tamarama and Dover Heights – announced earlier it will feature ‘cultural expression from local Knowledge Holders and artists’ at sunrise on January 26.

The council said the event was to ‘acknowledge the resilience and survival of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their continuous connection to Country and culture as the Traditional Custodians of this land’.

Military Cross recipient Michael von Berg told Daily Mail Australia the notion of a dawn service was deeply linked to ANZAC Day and that it was an ‘ambush’ from council ‘sticking it to veterans and all those who have fallen protecting this country’.