Sam Watson

The recent revelation that Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley — the Queensland policeman who admitted in court that he caused the death of Aboriginal man Mulrunji (Cameron Doomadgee) on Palm Island in November 2004 — received a “compensation” payment of $100,000 from the Queensland Police Service for alleged loss of personal property during the fire that followed, is a major public scandal.

Aboriginal leader Sam Watson discusses the brutal dawn eviction by 300 police of the peaceful embassy in Brisbane; the importance of the Tent Embassy movement; the need for unity to fight the LNP government which he compares to the infamous government of Joh Bjelke Petersen; and where to for the struggle for sovereignty.

In November 2008, Palm Island man Lex Wotton was convicted of "incitement to riot” and sentenced to six years' jail. His charge followed the Aboriginal community uprising and protest after the death in police custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee in November 2004.

Brisbane, June 18, 2010 - “The only way to find out the truth about the behavior of the Queensland police hierarchy in the cover-ups that followed the November 2004 killing of Mulrunji on Palm Island is to institute an independent commission of inquiry run by a respected interstate figure,” Sam Watson, well-known Murri rights activist and Socialist Alliance lead Senate candidate for Queensland said today.

“In the meantime the Queensland Police Service (QPS) hierarchy, beginning with commissioner Robert Atkinson, must be sacked.”

In his “Sorry” speech, delivered on February 13, 2008, PM Kevin Rudd said: “We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.”

The following letter was presented by Sam Watson on behalf of Brisbane’s Aboriginal Rights Coalition to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd during a protest outside Rudd’s electorate office on July 14.

Aboriginal voters will abandon the Labor Party in droves and vote for the minor parties on election day, because of the failure of Kevin Rudd to offer any real alternatives to the dictatorial and racist policies of the Howard government.

Sam Watson, a Queensland Murri leader and a Socialist Alliance Senate candidate in the coming Australian federal elections, condemned the recent raids by New Zealand police on the homes of Maori and other social movement activists, in the following statement released on October 24.

As Australia’s most important federal election in decades approaches, we urgently need a new vision for this country’s future.