Summary
- Thousands turned up to protests in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart on Saturday to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and call for an end to Aboriginal deaths in custody.
- The NSW Court of Appeal has ruled the Sydney rally could go ahead in a last minute decision after protesters fought a Friday night injunction to shut the march down.
- Organisers are encouraging protesters to wear face masks, adhere to social distancing and use hand sanitiser.
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Chief Health Officer Brendan Murphy have urged protesters to find another way to express their views without putting their health and that of others at risk during the coronavirus pandemic.
Latest updates
Crowd tries to adhere to social distancing in Melbourne
By Rachael Dexter
There are thousands in attendance at the Melbourne rally this afternoon, but far fewer than the 46,000 who expressed an interest in the Facebook event.
As you can see in this video, below, many protesters have tried to follow social distancing guidelines.
Geelong woman travels to Melbourne to show solidarity
Reporter Zach Hope spokes to a young woman by the name of Fadziso who travelled from Geelong to protest with her friends.
She told Zach she was warned by her Zimbabwean parents black people like them would have to work twice as hard for the same opportunities.
She didn't fully understand that as a child and remembers watching the news and believing racism was something from history.
But growing up and now into her 20s she has experienced it directly - her hair, the colour of her skin, the assumptions.
"We're in 2020 now, and I'm part of that racist history," she says.
She is at the march to promote awareness, for "racism is built on ignorance."
She is wearing gloves and a mask and social distancing as best she can to stay safe, but she sees the potential harm of COVID-19 in a different light to those urging people to stay at home.
"You know, people are talking about coronavirus as the worst thing there's ever been," she says. "But racism has been a pandemic my whole life. I'm being cautious, and I'm glad everyone around me is too, but it's not going to stop us fighting for our rights."
'No justice, no peace': Melbourne protesters on the move
By Rachael Dexter
The crowd is on the move in Melbourne and it's a good opportunity to get a decent look at the size of the crowd as they move from Parliament House.
The second stop of the rally is Bourke Street Mall, where mainly masked young people are sitting cross-legged on the ground chanting, "No justice, No peace".
We have not seen any scuffles, or arrests today.
'We rise together': Protesters in Brisbane join call for justice
In Brisbane, crowds have spilt from King George Square to neighbouring blocks, with people packing stairwells and balconies, brandishing signs calling for reform in Queensland and across the globe.
Speakers, including elders and traditional owners, detailed police brutality against members of their own families.
"We rise together and we speak in one voice against racism ... and legislation that takes away our freedom in this country ... our right to have a voice, our right to be free," Wangan and Jagalingou man Adrian Burragubba said.
Protesters in Brisbane.Credit:AAP
Cheers and applause echoed through the streets as he called for justice and government-funded trauma support for families whose loved ones have died in custody.
"While our people are dying in custody, our voice has gotta become louder, become a roar," he said.
In a separate press conference, Quandamooka woman and state Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch encouraged Queenslanders to speak out.
"This issue is not just about turning up for one day. It is about turning up every day," she said.
A woman at the rally in Brisbane.Credit:AAP
The Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council said the circumstances surrounding George Floyd’s death while being arrested in Minneapolis were all too familiar to minority communities in Australia.
"Behind every life taken is a broken-down family and a disrupted community clouded in anger, mistrust and confusion," it said in a statement.
"The long-term health impacts after a death in custody or incident of police brutality are endless."
Queensland Human Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall urged Australian governments to actively work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in a "power-sharing" way.
"There are scandalously disproportionate numbers of Aboriginal children, women and men detained within a criminal justice system which habitually repeats patterns of policing established under past policies of dispossession and protection," he said.
AAP
PICTURES: Melbourne's Black Lives Matter protest
Protesters share their stories
By Rachael Dexter
Ezi Osman at Melbourne's Black Lives Matter protest with her family. Credit:Rachael Dexter
"It's important for them to know how to stand up for themselves," says Ezi Osman, an East African woman who has lived in Australia for 30 years.
Ms Osman is with her sons at the Melbourne rally today.
She wants her six- and eight-year-old sons to know there are actions they can take when they are adults if they see injustices, or people treated unfairly.
"When they hear something in the news that isn't fair they know there's something they can do," she said.
She said she and her extended family made the decision to travel to the city from Donvale at the last minute this morning after weighing up the risks of coronavirus.
"We had to think about it so hard until the last minute, we didn't take public transport just to be safe," she said.
"You have to weigh the balance. We have an obligation to the society and we don't want an outbreak, but we thought it was important to come and stand up for people in our society."
WATCH LIVE: Melbourne's protest
Thousands of people are marching through Melbourne's CBD, shouting "No Justice! No Justice!". Watch the protest live, below:
PICTURES: Sydney's Black Lives Matter protest
Even though the Sydney protest was only declared legal a few minutes before it was due to begin at 3pm, crowds have been gathering at Town Hall for hours.
Our photographers Rhett Wyman and James Brickwood are there and you can view a gallery of their photos here that will be updated throughout the afternoon.
Sydney protest.Credit:James Brickwood.
Sydney protest.Credit:James Brickwood
Sydney Black Lives Matter protest.Credit:Rhett Wyman
'This was a bigger issue': Melbourne protesters join rally despite COVID risk
By Rachael Dexter
Tom, a 29-year-old man from Melbourne, said he had wrestled this week over whether to attend the rally because of the COVID-19 risk.
"We wanted to come and stand for the rights of vulnerable people, but at the same time we're probably putting other vulnerable people at risk by doing so," he said.
In the end, Tom decided to come.
Tom joined the rally, 'because if we don't do it now, when will we do it?'.Credit:Rachael Dexter
"I just decided that this was a bigger issue and if we aren't going to do it now, then when are we going to do it?" he said.
"I'm here to stand in solidarity with people of colour and to stand against a system that privileges people who look like me."
Sydney protest declared legal after last minute court appeal
More on the NSW Court of Appeal last ditch ruling on the Sydney protest from our reporter Georgina Mitchell.
In a dramatic decision, the NSW Court of Appeal has ruled the Black Lives Matter protest at Town Hall in Sydney's CBD is an authorised public assembly.
The decision came down just before the protest was to begin at 3pm.
On Friday, NSW Supreme Court Justice Des Fagan declined to make that declaration.
Following an urgent hearing in the Court of Appeal this afternoon, Chief Justice Tom Bathurst, Court of Appeal President Andrew Bell and Justice Mark Leeming granted leave to appeal and declared that the protest - planned for 5000 people - "is an authorised public assembly".
You can read the full story here.
Most Viewed in National
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiygFodHRwczovL3d3dy5zbWguY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL2dlb3JnZS1mbG95ZC1wcm90ZXN0cy1saXZlLXRob3VzYW5kcy10by1yYWxseS1pbi12aWN0b3JpYS1hbmQtcWxkLXdpdGgtYmxhY2stbGl2ZXMtbWF0dGVyLXByb3Rlc3RlcnMtdG8tZGVmeS1zdXByZW1lLWNvdXJ0LW9yZGVyLWJhbm5pbmctc3lkbmV5LXJhbGx5LTIwMjAwNjA2LXA1NTA0Yy5odG1s0gEA?oc=5
2020-06-06 05:40:00Z
52780835282788
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "George Floyd protests LIVE: Thousands join Black Lives Matter rallies in Victoria and QLD, as court overturns Sydney protest ban - The Sydney Morning Herald"
Post a Comment