David Shoebridge talks about a federal ICAC, the Restoration of Territory Rights Bill, the failure to implement the findings of the Royal Commission into Black Deaths in Custody and the challenges of work-life balance.
Aboriginal deaths in custody
Protesters gathered around the country, in response to a call out from Yuendumu Elders, to demand police be prohibited from taking guns into remote First Nations communities and justice for Kumanjayi Walker. Isaac Nellist and Chloe DS report.
Hundreds marched through Sydney to demand justice for Kumanjayi Walker and the many other First Nations people killed in custody. Video by Peter Boyle.
Rachel Evans reports the words of Tane Chatfield's mother and father in the front of Lidcombe Coronial Court on the final day of the inquest into his death in custody in 2017.
Between 300-350 people attended a solidarity action in Katoomba, reports Lisa Macdonald.
About 50 people held a silent march through the beachside suburb of Manly on November 3 against Aboriginal deaths in custody.
Pat, a 16-year-old Aboriginal boy, was killed on September 28, 1983, after a fight erupted between a drunken off-duty police officer and local Aboriginal people in Roebourne, Western Australia. Pat was passing by at the time and was drawn into the melee by police. Pat was subsequently struck by a police officer, falling backwards and hitting his head on the pavement. Denied medical assistance, he died a just a little more than an hour after he was locked up.
Members of the family of David Dungay, who was killed by prison officers in Long Bay jail almost two years ago, gathered outside the Coroners Court on November 8 to demand justice and that action be taken against those officers involved in his death.
Speaking to the media, David's mother Leetona said: "After two years, this process has taken too long. We are going to fight this to the end. My son has been cruelly taken away from us, and I am demanding that justice is finally done for him."
About 30 people attended a meeting on February 23 on the theme: "How can we stop deaths in custody and hold the police to account?". The meeting was organised by the Indigenous Social Justice Association (ISJA).
ISJA member Cheryl Kaulfuss spoke about the death of Aboriginal teenager TJ Hickey as a result of police action in Redfern in 2004. Nationwide protests on the anniversary of his death led to the formation of ISJA Melbourne.
A rally for justice for David Dungay-Hill Jnr, a Dunghutti man from Kempsey, was held in Sydney on December 29.
Dungay-Hill was a 26-year-old Aboriginal man who was an inmate in Long Bay Prison. A sufferer of chronic diabetes, Dungay-Hill ate a biscuit in his cell to restore his blood sugar levels. For this “crime”, eight officers restrained him while another administered a sedative. Seconds later he cried “I can't breathe” and within a minute he was dead.
In a statement at the time, Corrective Services NSW said police were not treating the death as suspicious.
A defiant action was organised on October 22 to protest the recent murder in custody of Wayne “Fella” Morrison.
Morrison died at Royal Adelaide Hospital on September 26, three days after a beating by prison guards at Adelaide’s Yatala Labour Prison left him brain dead.
This is the Australian version of the open letter created by Letters for Black Lives, an ongoing project for people to create and translate resources on anti-Blackness for their communities in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter.
* * *
Mum, Dad, Uncle, Auntie, Grandfather, Grandmother:
We need to talk.
You may not have grown up around people who are Black, Aboriginal or African but I have. Black people are a fundamental part of my life: they are my friends, my classmates and teammates, my roommates, my family. Today, I'm scared for them.
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