Australia news live: Invasion Day protests under way; pro-Russian tennis fans quizzed by police

Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage of what is expected to be a lively Australia Day public holiday marked with a series of Invasion Day protests. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll bring you the big overnight stories before my colleague Natasha May takes over.

Taryn Brumfitt, a body image activist from South Australia, who directed a documentary about women’s body loathing and her path to accepting her own skin, has been named the 2023 Australian of the Year. “It is not our life’s purpose to be at war with our body,” she told the awards ceremony in Canberra last night. The 2023 Senior Australian of the Year was named as the Kungarakan elder and human rights campaigner Prof Tom Calma. Calma, 69, is currently the co-chair of Reconciliation Australia and chancellor of the University of Canberra.

Invasion Day and Survival Day protests are already under way, with dawn ceremonies in many locations to mark the arrival of white settlers. There will be events all day, including the annual protest in Belmore Park in Sydney and Brisbane’s annual Invasion Day rally at Queens Gardens.

Several spectators at the Australian Open are being questioned by Victoria police after they unveiled flags in support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and then threatened security guards following the quarter-final match between Andrey Rublev of Russia and Novak Djokovic. The nine-times champion won his game easily to progress to the semi-finals, but during the game a spectator revealed a T-shirt with a large Z on the front – the symbol of the Russian military. Afterwards, some fans unfurled Russian flags and images of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.