1,000s protest Australia gov’t brutality against Aboriginals

Militant/Ron Poulsen

SYDNEY — Thousands joined Aboriginal people here as part of nationwide demonstrations against the rulers’ celebrations of “Australia Day” Jan. 26. The holiday marks the anniversary of the arrival of the British First Fleet in 1788 to start a convict colony at Sydney Cove and the beginning of frontier wars against the indigenous peoples.

Rejecting the rulers’ nationalistic festivities, numerous handmade placards included “No pride in genocide” and “No pride in stolen land,” referring to the dispossession of the indigenous people. Young Aborigines leading the march in Sydney chanted, “Too many cops, never any justice!”

“The rate of Aboriginal deaths in police custody has doubled” nationally since a judicial inquiry 25 years ago, Ken Canning from the Indigenous Social Justice Association told the youthful Sydney rally. This is an example of the ongoing consequences of the frontier wars, he said.

Despite being only 3 percent of the population, indigenous men and women make up over 28 percent of the national prison population. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth comprise over half the numbers of juvenile prisoners.

— RON POULSEN