Australian police rescue PM, opposition leader from race protests

What a disgrace this unwashed mob are. I'm all for equal rights, have some indigenous roots myself, and am glad my government made apologies for the outrageous treatment a long time ago by the British and Australian governments toward indigenous people - especially "the stolen generation". But enough is enough. What more do es this mob want? The "tent embassy" outside Parliament House is an embarrassment to their own people and should be razed to the ground.

Fortunately, most indigenous people in Australia are normal, level-headed folk who just get on with things. Unlike this ragtag bunch. Thanks for wrecking Australia day, ya bums!

Australia Day, which marks the arrival of British settlers in 1788.

Wow! What a self-righteous thing to celebrate! Invasion Day is indeed a more apt name. I don't know if I support these rioters or not, but that is darn good explanation of why this sort of thing happens. What do Australians expect with a celebration like that? Might as well call it White Over Black Day, and truly reap the whirlwind of the racial connotations!

@ Pizzaface - Indigenous Aussies are also Australian - most of them also enjoy the national holiday. There was previously talk of shifting Australia Day to January 1 to mark the start of independence in 1901 - however it would clash with New Year. And I'm sure it would not stop some of these professional protesters (many of the leaders have no indigenous blood by the way) from trying to ruin everyone's holiday. January 26 it is, and I'll be drinking some great Aussie red tonight in celebration!

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY FELLOW AUSSIES!

@ Pizzaface - Australia day is for every Australian. From every background, Indigenous to European (not just people from the UK), Asian, etc. Our government has now said "Sorry" for treating the Indigenous poorly in the past. Yet still a minority of people protest every year, a lot of people are not indigenous who do this. They being a disadvantaged minority is an issue, which many organisations are trying to resolve. But becoming violent, using verbal and physical aggression isn't going to solve anything. Non-Indigenous people are learning to respect and appreciate the diversity Indigenous population brings to our communities. It's time I think that these particular people to learn to forgive. Working together and celebrating together for the love of the land is what Australia day is about. Nothing self-righteous in that.

Australia day is for every Australian.

Yet its celebrated on the day the invading Anglos came! Sorry, I am not Australian, so I have not been programmed to have a blind spot for that very obvious logical disconnect!

Talking about a blind spot, most of the people who posted comments seem to have that condition, no wonder the original people of Australia is down to 470, 999 from 22 million. Celebrating that holiday is a blatant disgrace and a slap in the face of all the original people every year, the Australians people should stop celebrating it.

Croy me a rivah.

'Visibly rattled Gillard' was handled by the lean cool body guard. While she probably had intentions of her own to maintain balance here, the freakish side show of security had other ideas. Hey, those shields all made it look pretty scary.

When Aussies celebrate Australia Day we are celebrating the Australia that we all enjoy NOW. Its not a celebration of when the British arrived anymore. We generally spend the day with family and friends, sharing a barbie, a few coldies, a yarn, mateship and a love for the country we call home.

Ya bloody drongos. That's about all the Australian I know. Now if the restaurant had any sense they'd of offered free Toohey's or Cooper's to the mob and I'm sure they'd of subsided and went on their merry way. Geez, way to hold a grudge already. It's not like first nation people in every country don't have to pay taxes or pay for school or anything? Your path is the same as the rest of us, but yours is free. Tell that to the working class family with a ton of debt trying to make ends meet.

Its not a celebration of when the British arrived anymore.

Then moving the date to illustrate the belief should not be a problem. That way Australia Day won't overlap Invasion Day.

Talking about a blind spot, most of the people who posted comments seem to have that condition, no wonder the original people of Australia is down to 470, 999 from 22 million. Celebrating that holiday is a blatant disgrace and a slap in the face of all the original people every year, the Australians people should stop celebrating it.

Give it a rest. You talk like you have never even lived in Australia or spent time with indiginous Australians. What do you want next - for the Japanese to stop celebrating Foundation Day every year, because the populations of Ainu and other indigenous people in these islands had been decimated by an invading ethnic group from elsewhere in Asia? Australia Day is NOT a celebration of the British colonising the continent. It is a day for all Aussies to celebrate together what an amazing nation that they have built together - the indigenous people, and those from every other nation under the sun. A celebration of probably the most stable and progressive of all nations, one of the first real democracies, the first to give women the vote...where do I start?

BTW - you need to check your figures. There were NEVER 22million indigenous Australians on the continent. Most historians believe 750,000 would have been the maximum possible population at time of British settlement. But then again, I doubt you have ever researched Aboriginal culture and are just looking to make cheap shots.

Kudos to the Autralian Police!! At least some countries have some police with some kahunas!

A scene from The Bodyguard

the original people of Australia is down to 470, 999 from 22 million

Yes, I too am curious about the origins of these numbers...

Sorry JT, but your story is mostly incorrect

the original people of Australia is down to 470, 999 from 22 million

Yes, I too am curious about the origins of these numbers..

Read the article. It says the Aborigine population is down from 1 million. 22 million is the current population of Australia.

KuYani

Talking about a blind spot, most of the people who posted comments seem to have that condition, no wonder the original people of Australia is down to 470, 999 from 22 million.

Talk about having no idea. Maybe you could actually get some facts before spouting off about something you clearly have no knowledge of. At no point was there ever 22 million aboriginals in Australia. As others have pointed out the population was around the 750,000 mark however numbers vary from as low as 315,000 up to 750,000. As for their only being 470,999 left l would love to know where that number comes from as the latest figures have the population at 517,000.

I can understand why when reading this article that a person with no idea about Australia would come to the above conclusion, that is because the article is so poorly written that it gives the impression that Australians have managed to kill 21 million Aboriginals in the past couple of hundred years.

Celebrating that holiday is a blatant disgrace and a slap in the face of all the original people every year, the Australians people should stop celebrating it.

Why is celebrating our national day a slap in the face, the majority of Australians see it for what it is a day to spend with family and friends and a celebration of who we are as a nation. We do not celebrate it as the day we arrived but as a celebration of what we have become. Big difference.

JT you should verify the story facts before publishing, guess you got this from AFP source?

Pizzaface is commenting based on what is written here in this news report and according to BurakuminDes & Cletus, the population numbers are not true. Can't blame Pizzaface here, he's only commenting based on what's written and understandably BurakuminDes is not too cool with those comments. All a big misunderstanding for no reason.

I believe nobody can blame aborigines for requesting more resource from government, I found some figures from net that Australia population increased from 2 million something to 24 million from 1800s. At the same time Aborigines decreased to 0.47M from 1 M as mentioned hereabove ! The reason caused a specific people so hard to survive in a country reavealed unfairness factors are there definitely. Aborigines only complain and protest for the same, I don't understand why some people here still want to blame them?

Aborigines only complain and protest for the same, I don't understand why some people here still want to blame them?

No-one here is blaming indigenous people. However this particular group of idiots - they are NOT all Aboriginal by the way - are out of order using violence and threats, burning an Australian flag and so on. Aboriginal leaders suck as Mick Gooda, Noel Pearson, Warren Mundine - the real Aboriginal leaders who command respect among their people - have condemned what this mob did. This mob are not representative of most indigenous Aussies.

Indigenous populations the world over were sadly decimated up to 100 years ago through conflict and disease - look at the Ainu and other tribes of Northern Japan who now number around 200 "full-blood" members. It is the responsibility of society and government to create equal opportunity for all their citizens, no-matter what the race. Recent Aussie governments have been working hard to address problems in indigenous communities, such as medical problems and It is up to communities to do their part too.

Aboriginal leaders suck as Mick Gooda, Noel Pearson, Warren Mundine

oops! should be SUCH as!