The 'Invasion Day' march in Hobart commenced at the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre's Elizabeth Street headquarters, from which people marched to Parliament Lawns chanting: "We won't stop, we won't go away. We won't celebrate Invasion Day".
Thousands gathered at Parliament Lawns to hear from speakers including Nala Mansell, Ruth Langford (Tipruthanna), Thomas Riley, Cody Gangell-Smith, Aunty Cheryl Mundy, and Hannah Moloney.
Ms Mansell, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre campaign manager, said: "As we hear those cannons firing in the background, we are reminded of what January 26 symbolises and why this nation chooses to so callously gloat about the victory of one race over another."
"Today is a day of mourning. January 26 represents the beginning of mass killings of so many innocent Aboriginal men, women and children," she said.
Rally MC Adam Thompson asked "How can we celebrate a day that signifies the invasion of this country, violence against aboriginal people, and the dispossession of our lands?"
"What we are demanding is simple and reasonable, that Australia change its national day to another date," he said.
"Since the British planted their flag here, January 26 1788, this so-called lucky country hasn't shared its good fortune with our fellas."
Aboriginal man and community advocate, Mr Gangell-Smith, said: "While we now share this country with people from many cultures, at its core, this always was and always will be Aboriginal land. What we are asking for is your help to decolonise this country."
Mr Riley, an Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania (ALCT) councillor and Aboriginal rights activist, said: "I refuse to celebrate my ancestors' deaths. I refuse to celebrate that which completely belittles and ignores our history and the plight of our people."
"We are here, and we will always be here. No amount of revisionist thinking or writing will change that," he said.
Tipruthanna/ Ms Langford, a Yorta Yorta/Dja Dja Wurrung woman living in Tasmania, said: "I don't want people to feel shame, I want people to feel love."
"To feel a heart that completely loves so much that it gets broken open when we are faced with the reality of the atrocities that are continuing," she said.
"There has been so much devastation felt by our people. This is a day of mourning. We are celebrating our survival but we are here to mourn what's gone before us and what is still happening."
In addition to the Hobart action, an 'Invasion Day' march and really was also held in Devonport as well as a 'Survival Day' gathering at Cygnet's South East Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (SETAC).
