2026-01-22
Listening has changed January 26. Now it demands leadership.
By Larissa Waters, Leader of the Australian Greens
Each year, January 26 feels different. Each year, I see more people choosing to listen to First Nations voices, rather than look away.
I’ve watched more Australians pause on this day, ask harder questions, and sit with uncomfortable truths… many for the first time.
Families choosing new ways to spend the day. Councils moving celebrations and ceremonies. Communities choosing reflection over denial.
That gives me hope.
More and more people are now understanding and genuinely acknowledging that recognising January 26 as a day of invasion is not about division, but about respect, honesty and connection.
It shows that many Australians are ready to talk about our history. It shows that truth-telling isn’t something people are afraid of, but is something they’re already opening up to in their own lives.
Much of this community-led change is happening without government permission. It is happening in spite of political leadership, not because of it, as people move even further ahead of the major parties.
There are important exceptions to this. In Victoria, truth-telling laid the groundwork for Treaty, led by First Nations people and supported by communities willing to walk that path together. That progress only happened because politicians chose to listen, and chose to lead.
But there’s no guarantee that this change is inevitable.
Each day, we see real threats to progress. A well-funded right-wing movement, backed by corporate interests and billionaires, is deliberately stoking division for political gain. They profit from fear, misinformation and denial, and they are determined to drag us backwards.
That makes leadership more important than ever.
Across the country, people are already leading - in families, classrooms, workplaces, councils and communities. Some states are taking steps where they can.
But this is not enough. It must be met with leadership at the federal level.
It has been more than three decades since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody handed down clear recommendations to save lives. Governments have repeatedly delayed action and deflected responsibility.
The consequence remains a national shame: First Nations people continue to die in custody, children are locked up at alarming rates, and systems built on punishment are allowed to continue to cause harm.
This reality is directly linked to our failure to tell the truth. By avoiding the honesty and reality of invasion and it’s ogoing impacts, it becomes easier to overlook harm and injustice in the present.
Over-incarceration, punitive youth justice laws and deaths in custody are the result of political choices made by politicians of all stripes and by parliaments across the country.
Our leaders cannot keep pretending this is someone else’s responsibility. Federal leadership, driven by community-led solutions, is essential.
Listening has changed January 26. What this day asks of us now is action.
Action on truth.
Action on treaty.
Action to end the systemic harms, including deaths in custody, that flow directly from a history we still refuse to fully confront.
Action to stand up to those who seek to divide our community and drive us further apart.
The community is ready, and it’s time for our federal leaders to join them.