Under the theme "Racism has got to go!", Aboriginal protesters and supporters held a rally against police violence outside the Queensland parliament on April 24.
About 70 people attended the rally, which coincided with the Sydney march against police assaults on Black youth in that city.
Speakers at the Brisbane rally expressed solidarity with the Aboriginal community in Sydney and said similar police racism was rife in Queensland.
One activist said police had provoked him many times in the past and taunted him to fight them.
Another Aboriginal activist said that he couldn’t consider himself Australian because the government isn’t allowing him to live a normal life in this country.
Socialist Alliance spokesperson and Murri community activist Sam Watson said the Queensland government did not have the right to fly the Aboriginal flag because the government does not speak for their community. The flag flies on a flagpole near Queensland parliament without Aboriginal people’s consent.
As Aboriginal community representatives voiced their concerns, two police officers approached the peaceful activists and asked them to move on or they would call for back up.
Shocked Aboriginal protesters yelled out to Parliament House: “We are holding a peaceful protest. Why are you bringing out guns?”
Towards the end of the rally, three police cars turned up and watched the end of the protest. Queensland police have not asked any protest to stop that I have observed, except for this Aboriginal protest.
