THOUSANDS of Australians demonstrated on the anniversary of Britain’s colonisation of their country today, with large crowds urging that Australia Day be moved and replaced by a day of mourning on the holiday many label “Invasion Day.”

The holiday marks the arrival of 11 British ships carrying convicts at Port Jackson in present-day Sydney on January 26 1788. 

Many activists say the day marked the beginning of a sustained period of discrimination and expulsion of Indigenous people from their land without a treaty.