Both protests ended in ugly scenes with police forcefully removing protesters. One current family of campers claims rangers have already moved them from the south side of the island to the north, because of Tuesday's Australia Day Skyworks celebrations. The 'Matagarup Refugee Camp' is home to about 60 people. Credit:Heather McNeill But Mr Bropho says the group is entitled to camp at the island, which is a registered Aboriginal site, and will remain there until the state government "handed it back" to traditional owners. "Refugees are flocking to our country and yet they are not recognising the first people who've lived in Australia from day one," he said. "We want this place to be handed back, that's what we're here for, so we can look after it and maybe turn it into a better place.

"We're not armed, we're defenceless people down here just trying to fight to survive." Mr Bropho said the island welcomed "people from all walks of life" who had fallen on hard times. There are currently non-indigenous people camping on the island. "Some [campers] are from the local areas that have been kicked out of Homeswest houses and left in poverty to survive on the streets, some of the mob are from country, some are backpackers," he said. "They tried to pull this down, but we keep coming back and we'll stand here, they can take the tents away, we'll get some more tents, if not, we'll sleep under the trees."

He claims many of the homeless at the island had been evicted under the Housing Authority's "three-strikes" rental policy which has evicted 265 tenants since being introduced in 2011. The island is a registered Aboriginal site under the Aboriginal Heritage Act but the act alone does not allow people to camp on a site without permission. The group plans to march to Parliament House on Australia Day to protest against the public holiday, which celebrates when British settlers arrived in Australia in 1788. "To me [Australia Day] is a very sorry day," Mr Bropho said. "It's done a lot of damage to our people and a lot of people need to know that Australia has a dark history."

The City of Perth is yet to comment on the newest group of campers at Heirisson Island. Follow WAtoday on Twitter