Thousands of people have gathered for a Black Lives Matter protest in Perth, as hundreds more people joined anti-racism and refugee rights demonstrations unfolding across Australia today.
Key points:
- Protests in Darwin and Innisfail were approved by state authorities under COVID-19 measures
- A Black Lives Matter protest in Perth went ahead against the urging of Premier Mark McGowan
- Smaller refugee rights demonstrations went ahead in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, despite the NSW Supreme Court prohibiting the rally there
The protest in Western Australia’s capital city is going ahead despite the WA Premier urging organisers to postpone the event and the City of Perth refusing to grant a permit for it to take place.
The Perth protest organisers are calling for an end to racial violence, a reduction in the Indigenous incarceration rate, an end to both systemic racism and the removal of Aboriginal children from families and for “sovereignty now”.
About 11,000 masks and hand sanitiser were provided at the event via hygiene stations spread across the venue and organisers have encouraged social distancing.
An estimated 5,000 people attended the rally.
Jacinta Taylor, one of the event organisers, said she hoped the event would achieve long-lasting change.
Her father, 79-year-old Noongar elder Ben Taylor, was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his tireless efforts for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights.
“There have been people like my dad who have been pushing for change since they were my age,” Ms Taylor said.
“I don’t want to have to be 80 years old and still pushing for this kind of change.”
Speakers at the Perth protest condemned Rio Tinto for the destruction of a 46,000 year old Aboriginal heritage site in WA’s Pilbara region last month.
Black Lives Matter protests began in Darwin, Innisfail
In Darwin, a protest which drew in up to 1,000 people began with a welcome to country and speeches from four young Aboriginal women, followed by a smoking ceremony led by Larrakia elder June Mills.
The organisers successfully lodged a COVID-19 safety plan with the Northern Territory Government, which allowed them to host a gathering of more than 500 people in the territory, which currently has no recorded active coronavirus cases.
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In the Far North Queensland town of Innisfail, around 300 people were undeterred by rain, joining a march to highlight Indigenous deaths in custody.
Organiser Brett Ambrun said the rally demonstrated Innisfail was “standing up as a community”.
“We want to march down the street, we wan