[Archive 2009-01-28] Australia celebrates Australia Day 2009

Historical archive — originally published 2009-01-28. This report records what was known on that date. It is not current news; subsequent events may have changed the situation. Wikinews closed in May 2026.

All around Australia, ordinary people have celebrated Australia Day. Australia Day, on January 26 each year, is commemorated as Invasion Day by many indigenous Australians. In 2009, it coincided with Lunar New Year, celebrated by many Asian cultures.

Thousands of people have celebrated Australia Day with barbecues, concerts and boat races. Police expected half a million people to flock to the Hyde Park and the Harbour.

Melbourne's Australia Day Parade was a multicultural event with many ethnic groups marching. Notably absent was the city's Vietnamese community, who chose to celebrate the Lunar New Year independently.

From 4:30 pm local time, police in Queensland's Sunshine Coast received calls from residents about loud drunken parties. Police arrested at least five people in a Noosaville park with another unit needing backup at Gympie Terrace (Noosa).

But, it was not all bad news for Sunshine Coast residents as thousands showed up to watch the "dunny races" at Aussie World. The crowd cheered as the final got under way. Maroochy Roos Australian Football team won.

A dunny race is contested by four people pushing an outhouse, an outdoors toilet, on wheels.

South Africa defeated Australia in their Limited Overs International in Adelaide, wrapping up the series of five cricket matches in the process. Batting first, Australia were all out for 222 runs off 48 overs. South Africa easily made the 223 target with more than 11 overs left.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Australia celebrates Australia Day 2009 by Wikinews contributors under CC BY 2.5. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. Contributor history.