Australia Day has kicked off with millions of residents celebrating the national holiday across the country.
The long weekend has become a hot topic of debate with many calling for the date to be changed out of respect for the Aboriginal community.
Follow Daily Mail Australia’s live coverage of the national holiday.
Australia Day ‘dawn service’ kicks off
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.
Some pictures from Australia Day 2025
Sam Newman’s astonishing act of disrespect during ‘Acknowledgement of Country’ ceremony
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.
Shocking images show why many Aussies are not celebrating the national holiday
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.
