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Vol. 81/No. 6 February 13, 2017
1,000s protest Australia gov’t brutality against Aboriginals
Militant/Ron Poulsen
SYDNEY — Thousands joined Aboriginal people here as part of nationwide
demonstrations against the rulers’ celebrations of “Australia Day” Jan.
26. The holiday marks the anniversary of the arrival of the British
First Fleet in 1788 to start a convict colony at Sydney Cove and the
beginning of frontier wars against the indigenous peoples.
Rejecting the rulers’ nationalistic festivities, numerous handmade
placards included “No pride in genocide” and “No pride in stolen land,”
referring to the dispossession of the indigenous people. Young
Aborigines leading the march in Sydney chanted, “Too many cops, never
any justice!”
“The rate of Aboriginal deaths in police custody has doubled” nationally
since a judicial inquiry 25 years ago, Ken Canning from the Indigenous
Social Justice Association told the youthful Sydney rally. This is an
example of the ongoing consequences of the frontier wars, he said.
Despite being only 3 percent of the population, indigenous men and women
make up over 28 percent of the national prison population. Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander youth comprise over half the numbers of
juvenile prisoners.
— RON POULSEN
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