home | news l

Marchers condemn 'apartheid'

By Margaret Wenham

20 December 2006 - WAVES of anger rippled through Brisbane city yesterday as 1000 protesters proclaimed justice in the Palm Island death-in-custody case had not been done.

The rally began at Queens Park, with the dour bronzed visage of the colonial Queen Victoria looking on. It ended, following a vocal and boisterous march along George St, at Parliament House where an Australian flag was burnt.

Protests were also held on Palm Island and in Townsville, Cairns and Melbourne.

In Brisbane, the crowd – a mix of black and white – included a who's who of the city's Aboriginal community, from television personality Ernie Dingo to high-profile broadcaster and former father of the year Tiga Bayles.

Speakers condemned the secrecy shrouding the decision last week of the state's Director of Public prosecutions, Leanne Clare, not to prosecute Senior-Sergeant Chris Hurley, the man a coroner found was responsible for the November 2004 death of Mulrunji in the Palm Island police watch-house.

Australian Council of Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman called for the release of all legal opinions and new evidence taken into account by Ms Clare before arriving at her decision not to prosecute Sen-Sgt Hurley.

He also reiterated his previous call for the decision to be reviewed by NSW DPP Nicholas Cowdery.
To catcalls of agreement from the crowd, Mr O'Gorman declared the decision not to prosecute as "a most curious one".

"Let me tell you this," he said. "Day in and day ... ordinary citizens of this state have to go through to the agony of a jury verdict in cases prosecuted by the DPP where the evidence is 10 times weaker than the evidence appears with Mr Hurley."

When the cousin of Mulrunji, Alec Doomadgee, took centre stage, the crowd roared their approval as he declared it was time for Aborigines to "stop playing the poor bugger me blackfella".

"Stand up and be counted," he shouted.

"It's time for us Aboriginal people to unite. We need to come together as an Aboriginal nation and stand up for our people ... and stop the injustices that have been happening for so long," he shouted.

Mr Doomadgee said too many injustices suffered by indigenous people were being denied, including the stolen wages, the stolen generation and the deaths of other Aborigines in custody.

Interviewed during the rally, Dingo said it was time to "stop the lying, stop with the cover-ups and stop with the politics".

"We need answers," he said.

Mr Bayles described the decision not to prosecute Sen-Sgt Hurley as "the biggest cover-up in Queensland".
"It confirms everything we've been saying all along – that there are double standards, that this is a police state, that apartheid is alive and well and it confirms that Australia is a very racist country," he said.
A national day of action is planned for Australia Day on January 26.

In Townsville, more than 500 people marched through the city to protest against Ms Clare's ruling and Mr Beattie's decision not to intervene.

Some protesters carried a black coffin, while others held placards, one saying: "It's not the justice system, it's the people in charge."

Protest organiser Florence Onus said Mr Beattie, Ms Clare and Police Minister Judy Spence should all resign.

"We're asking that an independent inquiry occur in relation to the DPP and how she came to the conclusion of not charging Snr Sgt Hurley," Ms Onus said.

"We're also calling for the resignation of Peter Beattie because in the time that he's been Premier he has not implemented the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

"If he had done that we would not be here today."

heard demands for Premier Peter Beattie to resign.

Protests were held in Townsville, Brisbane, Melbourne, Cairns and Palm Island over Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Leanne Clare's decision not to charge Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley over the death of local man Mulrunji.

Mulrunji, 36, died in a police cell on Palm Island after being arrested for public drunkenness in 2004.
Despite state Deputy Coroner Christine Clement's ruling in September this year that Mulrunji's fatal injuries were caused by Snr Sgt Hurley, Ms Clare last week said there was not enough evidence to support criminal charges.

Mr Beattie flew to Palm Island to talk to Aboriginal leaders and Mulrunji's family as well as address a protest rally.

Source: The Courier Mail

Further information: palm island issues page - includes news index and external links

|| click to go to the top of this page