Tensions flared as Australia Day celebrations got out of hand at Wave Break Island on the Gold Coast on Sunday afternoon.
Police were forced to intervene following a scuffle between several young revellers about 1.40pm.
A witness claimed some women were seen running across the beach to join the altercation.
Up to 200 spectators watched on in horror as officers dragged the groups apart to break up the fight.
Queensland Police were unable to provide further detail but it’s understood no charges were laid.
Officers and paramedics remained at the scene as festivities continued into the evening.
Most revellers were in high spirits as they spent the afternoon on jet skis, dancing on boats and enjoying a swim.
Many patriotic revellers donned Aussie flags.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of demonstrators turned out at largely peaceful Invasion Day protests across the nation, demanding justice and rights for Indigenous people on Australia’s national day.
Invasion Day events kicked off in major capital cities and regional centres with organisers saying January 26, the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, was not a day to celebrate.
In Adelaide, demonstrations were almost disrupted when SA Police arrested and charged a dozen people with various offences and one man was arrested for displaying a Nazi symbol.
In Melbourne, tens of thousands of people went to the state parliament building – in what organisers described as the biggest Invasion Day turnout to date – to demand justice over Indigenous deaths in custody and missing and murdered women, and for governments to be held to account in treaty negotiations.
Chants of ‘shame’, ‘long live the resistance’ and ‘from the river to the sea, always was, always will be’ – a reference to the war in Gaza – rang out as a dozen speakers addressed the crowd.
Indigenous activist and historian Dr Gary Foley said the failed voice referendum was proof the greatest obstacle to a better future was ‘Anglo-Australian racism born out of fear and ignorance’ of history.
‘We need to gently educate those who are not here today about the true nature of Australian history and why it is every year we gather here on this occasion,’ he said.
Zoe Upton, a member of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria involved in treaty negotiations, mourned the activists who came before her and said their work led to the determination to continue to speak up about injustices since the settler landing.
Pro-Palestine activists who usually rally in central Melbourne each Sunday joined the protest, with demonstrators shutting down Russell and Swanston Streets as they chanted and marched towards Flinders Street Station.
Democracy in Colour national director and Palestinian woman Noura Mansour said the plights of Indigenous Australians and Palestinians were intertwined.
‘We were never meant to survive … but the fact that we are here over 200 years later, demanding treaty now, demanding land back, calling for a free Palestine, is a miracle,’ she told the crowd to cheers.
Aboriginal and Palestinian flags were waived alongside banners that read ‘Australia: Stolen land, Palestine: Stolen land’ and ‘237 years, yet no treaty’.
There was a big police presence in the city for the largely peaceful demonstration, with a few minor scuffles between protesters and members of the public.
Tens of thousands have turned out at largely peaceful Invasion Day protests across the country
There have been official ceremonies and protests across Australia to mark January 26
Victoria Police said about 25,000 people attended the protests and no arrests were made.
Between 50 and 70 people gathered at a separate ‘pro-Australia Day rally’ in Gosch’s Paddock, adjacent to Melbourne Park where the Australian Open is held, but no arrests were made.
Thousands converged at Belmore Park in central Sydney, many holding Aboriginal and Palestinian flags, as hundreds of Aboriginal activists called for Australia Day to be abolished or moved to a different date.
Wiradjuri woman Lily Hodgson said she was at the rally for her ancestors.
‘When you look into my eyes you’ll see my ancestors,’ she told AAP.
‘I’m here for everything that was taken from us, in our language, in our spirituality, and in our connection, the country.’
Thousands peacefully marched through the streets of Sydney’s CBD flanked by a heavy police presence including mounted police.
NSW Police said the crowd later dispersed with no arrests.
In Brisbane, thousands of people – many dressed in black, red and yellow – sat on the grass in Queens Garden to listen to Aboriginal elders speak while marking January 26 with a giant Aboriginal flag laid on the lawns.
Speaker Uncle Bill criticised Queensland’s Liberal National Party government for scrapping the state’s truth-telling inquiry within days of taking office.
Pro-Palestine activists joined the Invasion Day rally in Melbourne
‘Things for Indigenous people are going down the drain,’ he told the crowd.
The protesters marched across Victoria Bridge, over the Brisbane River to Musgrave Park chanting ‘always was, always will be Aboriginal land’ as police officers lined the road.
Activists in Hobart marched to the state parliament while protesters in the ACT marched past Parliament House in Canberra to an event at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.
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