Perth/Melbourne/Sydney: Indigenous protesters occupy colonial offices
25 May – Grandmothers Against Removals protested on ‘Sorry Day’ in Perth against the continuing stolen generations of Aboriginal children.
The rally started by occupying the head office of so-called ‘child protection’, then marched to the Sorry Day event organised by Reconciliation WA.
The public was informed of the current child-removal crisis until police repressed the protest.
The strong action finished off with dances from clans from the East to West coast.
End the fear, end the racism, end the removals. Grandmothers and other family members affected by continuing stolen generations are getting organised and fighting back for self-determination.
25 May – Aboriginal warriors have taken over the department that continues the longstanding, genocidal policy Aboriginal child removal.
31 May – Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance – WAR have occupied Rio Tinto’s HQ on Collins Street, in Melbourne CBD.
The action was taken in protest against the forced closure of aboriginal communities, and Rio Tintos continued destruction of indigenous homelands and sacred sites.
2 June – Last night, the campaign for affordable housing for Aboriginal people in Sydney stepped up a gear when about 500 people occupied the offices of Deicorp in Redfern. Aboriginal activists from the Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy and a large number of supporters, including students , flooded into the lobby and up the stairs chanting “Deicorp, Deicorp, we won’t stop – get your hands off the Block!” before settling into a half-hour sit in to protest the companies planned redevelopment of Redfern’s famous indigenous Block.
Perth/Melbourne/Sydney: Indigenous protesters occupy colonial offices
Perth: Arrests as police remove tents at Heirisson Island Aboriginal protest
Apr 30 – Dozens of riot police and City of Perth rangers have again moved into dismantle an Aboriginal camp at Heirisson Island, set up in response to the State Government’s plan to close remote communities.
Officers began dismantling the camp just after 11:00 am, pulling down tents and issuing move on notices.
The tents, as well as residents’ belongings, were confiscated.
There were angry scenes as a man and two women were arrested, and several others were issued with move on notices.
Activist Gerry Georgatos said there had been 41 tents on the island last night, housing about 100 people including several family groups.
He said the protest was about homelessness, as well as the closure of remote communities.
“This is an indictment on the city of Perth,” he said.
“Heirisson Island was a homeless friendly safe space.
“There were 41 tents pitched there, there were a lot of large families who would otherwise be vulnerable on the streets.”
Aboriginal elder Mingli Wanjurri Nungala said she was pushed hard by police.
“We saw the police coming, there seemed to be 100 or more, all the vans came, and they came in riot stuff … and they went to pull the tents down,” she said.
“One police woman was trying to push me away, and then suddenly, this big policeman came like a bull and grabbed me by my shoulder.
“They’re the violent ones, they are the criminals.
“I don’t want our people hurt, it’s wrong.
“This is our land – when I was a young girl I used to come prawning along here.”
The camp was set up early last month in protest at plans to close up to 150 Aboriginal communities, judged by the Government to be unsustainable.
Police and the City of Perth removed camping equipment from the site last month, but the camp has gradually reassembled since then.
Premier Colin Barnett said last year the State Government could no longer continue to service remote communities.
The Commonwealth provided funding for about two thirds of the state’s Aboriginal settlements with the WA Government funding the balance.
But the Commonwealth has withdrawn its funding, and is handing over responsibility to the State Government over the next two years.
Meanwhile, Mr Barnett met with residents of the Warralong community during a trip to the Pilbara yesterday.
He told the roughly 100 residents a larger community like Warralong could one day become a gazetted town, implying it was unlikely to be closed.
“Other communities I think need to have a viable population number, but I’m not putting a figure on that,” he told ABC North West.
“I think many Aboriginal people and Aboriginal leaders have been willing to discuss this and some of them realise the system does need to change.
“There’s a lot of talk, but if you look at school attendance, health, education achievements and particularly opportunities for employment, they are very limited and sometimes nonexistent in many Aboriginal communities.
“There are 274 remote communities in Western Australia and I think most fair-minded people don’t believe that is viable in the long term.”
Perth: Arrests as police remove tents at Heirisson Island Aboriginal protest
Brisbane: City Hall stormed and occupied by Aboriginal protesters & supporters
4 May – On Saturday the 2nd of May Brisbane City Hall in Brisbane’s CBD was stormed by Brisbane’s Aboriginal community and their supporters as part of nation-wide protests against the forced closure of remote Aboriginal communities by the governments in Western and South Australia.
The protesters raised the Aboriginal flag inside City Hall and announced to the authorities that the building was occupied and that they would not be leaving until the media were allowed into the building to attend an impromptu press conference by Aboriginal community spokespersons.
After approximately three hours of negotiations the authorities relented and organized for journalists from several media outlets to enter City Hall and the press conference was held. During the press conference Aboriginal community leaders expressed their outrage at the forced closures and at the lack of positive media coverage and stated that protest actions would be continuing until the government’s planned closures of Aboriginal communities were completely scrapped.
Satisfied that their demands had been fully met the protesters then peacefully left City Hall. No arrests were made making it a hugely successful and well publicized action.
Australia: Heirisson Island Aboriginal resist Police effort to clear camp
Photo: Aboriginal protesters stand their ground as police move in to clear camps at Heirisson Island. Mar 13, 2015
By Rebecca Trigger, ABC News, March 13, 2015
Angry scenes erupted at Perth’s Heirisson Island today as police and the city moved to dismantle an Aboriginal camp, set up in response to the State Government’s plan to close remote communities.
Dozens of officers, including mounted police and the canine squad moved in on the island at about 3:00pm, after the Perth council gave the group until midday today to remove their belongings.
Firefighters also extinguished campfires, drawing angry protests from the crowd of about 60 people who had gathered in the area, who said the fires were sacred.
Police on horseback lined up metres from the group as council staff loaded camping equipment onto trucks.
The City of Perth left one fire burning in the centre of the main campsite.
The site, near Perth’s CBD, had been described by occupants as a “refugee camp” for people displaced by the Western Australian Government’s planned closure of up to 150 of the state’s 274 remote Indigenous communities.
The State Government flagged the withdrawal of services to remote Aboriginal communities last year, after the Commonwealth announced it was cutting its own funding.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Tuesday backed the State Government’s plan, saying “what we can’t continue to endlessly subsidise lifestyle choices”.
Noongar elder Margaret Colbung said the planned closures would only add to homelessness and dispossession of Aboriginal people in the state.
“What are they going to do, where are those community’s people going to go?” she asked.
“We’ve got homeless people on the streets here in Perth. They’ve been here for years.
“No accommodation was provided for them. We attempted many times over the years to find accommodation for those people, and what happened?
“None of the governments, both Labor and Liberal, came to the party to do anything about it.”
She says Heirisson Island, which sits on the banks of the Swan River and is known locally as Matagarup, is a significant site for local Aboriginal people.
“This is an Aboriginal traditional ground. This is traditional birthing ground that belongs to the Noongar people,” she said.
“Until they come across with a pact or a treaty or an agreement, this land belongs to the Noongar people.”
Noongar elder Ben Taylor also raised concerns about a $1.3 billion native title settlement currently being negotiated with the State Government.
The majority of police left the area shortly after the final campsite was dismantled.
A WA police statement said officers were present to assist the City of Perth to ensure no breaches of the peace occurred, and that the public officers were not obstructed in their duties.
No arrests were made and no move-on notices were issued, the statement said.
The City of Perth’s chief executive Gary Stevenson said the lighting of campfires and use of vehicles on the island breached local laws.
“It’s not about the people being there but about the camping and the vehicles which were being driven all over the island,” he said.
He said the city would monitor the situation closely over the weekend.
“People that sleep rough, so to speak, are not breaking our laws unless they establish a camp,” he said.
“If they have a peaceful enjoyment of the island, there’s no action that the City of Perth would intend to take, but if the tents are re-established, if vehicles are driven on the reserve, then that would be breaching the law.”
The protesters remained on the island on Friday afternoon.
Heirisson Island was the scene of a major confrontation between police and Aboriginal activists in 2012, after a Nyoongar tent embassy was set up on the site to protest a native title agreement for the state’s south-west.
That protest, which also saw people camping on the site for more than a month, was shut down after police removed tents and sleeping gear and moved people on.
Protesters “shut down Melbourne” to fight against closure of Aboriginal communities
by Chloe Booker, The Age, March 13, 2015
More than a thousand protesters shut down traffic in Melbourne’s CBD to rally against the planned closure of remote Indigenous communities in West Australia.The group had hoped to confront Tony Abbott at the National Gallery, where he had been rumoured to be dining on Friday night. Mr Abbott has come under fire since he said it was a “lifestyle choice” to live in remote Indigenous communities. He made the comments on Tuesday while backing the West Australian government’s plan to close up to 150 of the communities.
After giving up on seeing Mr Abbott at about 6pm, the swarm of angry protesters walked up from the gallery to the State Library waving Aboriginal flags and chanting “shame, Abbott, shame”. About half-a-dozen tram routes were disrupted and a number of roads closed as they made their way up Swanston Street.
Organiser Meriki Onus, from group Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance, said she set up a Facebook page promoting the protest on Thursday because she was angry at the proposed closures and Mr Abbott’s comments. “They’re our most vulnerable group within Australia,” she said. “None of what they do or their lifestyle is a choice. I can imagine that they are still close to their traditional lifestyles.”They’re been doing it since the first sunrise.”
Ms Onus said the group’s intention was to “shut down Melbourne in response to shutting down the communities”.”It was fired up. It was a loud march,” she said.”This is only just the beginning.”
Ms Onus said Indigenous groups in WA were predicting there would be 20,000 refugees if the communities were closed.She called images posted on social media on Friday night purporting police attempting to close the newly set up Nyoongar Tent Embassy in Perth’s Heirisson Island “disgusting”.
“They’re all homeless people that live there,” she said.”That council are evicting homeless women and children from that embassy. It’s a refuge.”
The embassy was set up a more than week ago as part of an Indigenous national sovereignty movement. City of Perth chief executive Gary Stevenson said, on Wednesday, the campers would be evicted if they did not leave the island.
Weeks of protests were held on Heirisson Island in 2012 after a group of Aboriginal activists objected to the WA government’s $1.3 billion native title offer to the Nyoongar people.
A Victoria Police spokesman said there were no incidents with the protesters in Melbourne.
Australia: Heirisson Island Aboriginal resist Police effort to clear camp