![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/a-far-right-activist-shouts-slogans-during-the-rally-in-sydn-2VQC6SEHCFB57GVYGTKYQVW4OY.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAustralia Day protests around the nation have been marred by a bomb threat, assaults and hateful language, with two men arrested over separate incidents in Perth and Sydney.<\/p>\n
In Perth’s CBD, Invasion Day demonstrators were told to leave the area after a man threw what’s believed to be a rudimentary explosive device into the crowd.<\/p>\n
Police said they arrested a 31-year-old man and recovered a device made of ball bearings and screws, wrapped around an “unidentified liquid” in a glass container.<\/p>\n
“Forensics are currently doing what they need to do to identify what that liquid is,” WA Police commissioner Col Blanch told reporters in Perth.<\/p>\n
The device, about the size of a medium coffee cup, did not explode and nobody was hurt. Officers searched the man’s house. He is yet to be charged. <\/p>\n
Blanch said there was no ongoing threat to the community.<\/p>\n
While Invasion Day protesters used the day to call for better recognition of Australia’s first peoples, large anti-immigration rallies were also staged under the banner “March for Australia”.<\/p>\n
One man who attended a rally in Sydney is facing charges of publicly inciting racial hatred, accused of spewing neo-Nazi talking points at a demonstration in Surry Hills.<\/p>\n
“We will allege that the language he used, his presence, was clearly and unequivocally assigned with neo-Nazi ideology,” NSW Police assistant commissioner Brett McFadden told reporters.<\/p>\n
Police were out in force elsewhere around the nation, protecting against potential clashes between the March for Australia and Invasion Day groups.<\/p>\n
In Melbourne, the two demonstrations snaked through the city only streets apart, with each ending where the other began.<\/p>\n
“Please, do not engage,” was the advice Gunnai and Gunditjmara activist Meriki Onus gave Invasion Day protesters ahead of potential run-ins. <\/p>\n
Among those who addressed the Invasion Day rally was Millie Ingram, who read a statement on behalf of Uncle Mark Brown, a Burunong Elder.<\/p>\n
Brown’s Welcome to Country at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance was heckled by neo-Nazis on Anzac Day in 2025.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A far-right activist shouts slogans during the rally in Sydney. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n
Protesters then marched chanting “Always was, always will be” and “What do we want? Land rights. When do we want them? Now.”<\/p>\n
The largely peaceful Invasion Day march concluded near Flinders Street Station, where the March for Australia rally had begun earlier in the day. <\/p>\n
At that protest, chants of “deportation” and “send them back” were heard as attendees waved Australian flags and carried signs supporting Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party.<\/p>\n
As the group moved towards the steps of parliament, loud boos erupted as protesters passed the Immigration Museum. <\/p>\n
Riot and mounted police lined the streets, guiding demonstrators, including neo-Nazi members dressed in plain clothes.<\/p>\n
Police were quick to break up a clash after a man was seen attempting to burn the Australian flag, prompting another man to step in and hurl abuse.<\/p>\n
Victoria Police said it was investigating three assaults believed connected to the rallies, including a couple having their car attacked with a broken boom gate while being racially abused by four men, with one performing Nazi salutes during the ordeal. <\/p>\n
Similar protests were held across all capital cities, including in Brisbane, where Senator Hanson took to the stage.<\/p>\n
“I’ve never felt so honoured and proud as I am to be here today,” she said to an enthusiastic crowd.<\/p>\n
“Thank you for flying the Australian flag and showing pride in our country.”<\/p>\n
In Sydney, March for Australia protesters shouted chants of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie – oi, oi, oi” amid a heavy police presence. <\/p>\n
Protesters were draped in Australian flags while some held signs reading “Free Joel Davis”, referring to a neo-Nazi on remand for allegedly harassing a federal MP. <\/p>\n
An Invasion Day protest earlier kicked off in Hyde Park, opening with a minute’s silence and a tribute to the victims of the recent Lake Cargelligo shooting. <\/p>\n
Palestinian flags and keffiyehs were visible among Indigenous flags and placards.<\/p>\n
NSW Premier Chris Minns said he was hopeful the protests would proceed peacefully, adding there would be “no tolerance for violence or hate speech on Sydney’s streets.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australia Day protests around the nation have been marred by a bomb threat, assaults and hateful language, with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[85,67,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-254312","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-crime-and-justice","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-top-news","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-topnews","15":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}