Protest: Support an Aboriginal gathering place in the north

Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - 10:00

Protest: Support an Aboriginal gathering place in the north
Save the Ballerrt Mooroop College site

Wednesday 27 February, 10am
The old Ballerrt Mooroop College Site, 208 Hilton Street, Glenroy

The Aboriginal community fought hard in 2010-2011 to stop the state government closing Ballerrt Mooroop College, the only Aboriginal school in Melbourne. The previous Labor state government and the current Liberal government oppose all the Aboriginal schools in Victoria.

In September 2011, the Ballerrt Mooroop College community thought they had won agreement from the State government to keep the school open. Then the community was sold out when the government brought in a principle to expell the remaining students and shut the school.

There is a spirit tree and ceremonial ground on the remaining site. The old BMC school buildings are still standing. The Aboriginal pre-school is still there, and the remainder of the site could be turned into parkland.

The Aboriginal community and the Ballerrt Mooroop College Support Group are campaigning to have the site to the Aboriginal community as a community hub. At the moment, there's no Aboriginal gathering place on the western side of the Hume Highway in the northern suburbs, and almost no Aboriginal community services.

It is really importnat for us to win this site for an Aboriginal community gathering place and not have the government sell it off to greedy developers. The Moreland Council has indicated support for the site to be returned to the Aboriginal community.

Now, earthmoving equipment has started digging on the site again, digging up the area of the old BMC gymnasium for a 53-car carpark for the Glenroy Special School that has recently been built beside the BMC site.

The council gave the Glenroy Special School land on the northern side of the school that it could use for a carpark without eating into the BMC site. Instead, the Glenroy Special School has snubbed the Aboriginal community and the council, to dig up the BMC site for its carpark.

This is racism and dispossession of the indigenous community being repeated in modern-day Australia

If you are free, please come to support this important campaign.