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News :: Anti Racism : Indigenous Issues & Reconciliation : Police & Thieves : Urban Development |
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Port Augusta - Riot Cops to disband Aboriginal meeting places |
Current rating: 1 |
by Gayle Mather
(No verified email address) |
19 Feb 2005
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Just a note to let you know that things are pretty tough in Port Augusta right now. |
( FYI ... please pass onto your networks )
HI Everyone,
Just a note to let you know that things are pretty tough in Port Augusta right now.
As you are probably aware Port Augusta has always been a meeting place for Aboriginal people. Long before non-Aboriginal people arrived here Aboriginal people from many different groups used to meet on the coast, especially in the summer months.
However, our racist leadership has now decided they are no longer allowed to do this.
A meeting on Friday with Police, Council and Aboriginal leaders was told that they are going to bring in the Star Force Police to move the people who currently meet on the coast (near the new foreshore development) and arrest them if necessary to ensure they no longer congregate there.
The city manager is quoted as saying "we don't want them in our town and we will get rid of them".
Another quote from the meeting was "the star force will come through like the Tsunami and clean up the rubbish".
I was not aware of the meeting and therefore not in a position to attend, however these quotes come from people who were in attendance.
Our town also seems to have a vigilante group of non-Aboriginal people who are attacking Aboriginal people in this town.
Our leaders do not wish to work through the issues they do not want to listen to the people the answer is simply to arrest them.
Our local Minister with the Uniting Church Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress was himself arrested last week for being under the bridge where these people meet and he refused to move on when instructed.
I have just come back from a rally under the bridge where local people met in solidarity with the Aboriginal people who meet there. I have taken some hope from the people who gathered, but I fear for the safety of the Aboriginal people when the star force arrive and they are on there own.
These people are the most vulnerable in our community - don't our leaders have an obligation to them as well not just the racist population of this town?
Please pass this e-mail on throughout your networks and at least raise the awareness of the plight of the Aboriginal people in Port Augusta.
yours in solidarity,
Gayle Mather
Australia - always was - always will be - Aboriginal land |
This work is in the public domain. |
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Parent Article: Port Augusta - Riot Cops to disband Aboriginal meeting places |
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Re: Port Augusta - Riot Cops to disband Aboriginal meeting places |
by irrelevant
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 4
25 Feb 2005
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you must meet the tourist coming in from airport and ask they dont take anymore |
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Parent Article: Port Augusta - Riot Cops to disband Aboriginal meeting places |
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Port Augusta Indigenous community resists racist attacks |
by Jessica Rose for GLW
GLW (nospam) greenleft.org.au (unverified) |
Current rating: 7
01 Mar 2005
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http://www.greenleft.org.au/
Port Augusta Indigenous community resists racist attacks
Jessica Rose, Adelaide
Indigenous people in Port Augusta, 300km north of Adelaide, are facing increased harassment following a decision by the local council and police to call in extra police, including the “elite” STAR group, to crack down on “antisocial behaviour”.
The crackdown was announced after a February 11 crisis meeting between police, local authorities, Aboriginal community representatives and welfare groups. The council and police actions have been enthusiastically endorsed by Mayor Joy Baluch, who is notorious for making anti-Aboriginal and anti-refugee comments in the media.
In the eight days following the meeting, more than 50 arrests took place, according to the February 20 Sunday Mail. Most of these were on the town’s foreshore, a traditional gathering place for local Aboriginal people. Port Augusta city manager John Stevens was quoted as saying the extra police presence was aimed at “itinerants coming down from the north, displaying antisocial behaviour”. He denied that the council and police actions were racist. This has been disputed by local community members, who say that the actions are aimed at all Aboriginal people, whether residents or visitors to the town.
An eyewitness to the arrests, who did not want to give her name, told Green Left Weekly that police were targeting Indigenous people, particularly youth. “They were telling Aboriginal people to move on, then saying to white people, ‘it’s ok, you can stay’. They had a group of young Aboriginal boys sitting on the footpath for half an hour until they decided what to do with them.”
David Wright, a minister with the Uniting Church Aboriginal and Islander Congress, told Green Left Weekly that the meeting had been called following local media criticism of Port Augusta police for “inaction” in dealing with incidents involving Indigenous people. “There was an incident in November last year where there was a fight in a local street involving about 50 people. The police strategy then was to defuse the situation, and then tell people to go home. No arrests were made, and they were criticised for that.
“There was another incident in December, after a concert on the foreshore, when there was a dispute between two Aboriginal families. The police were criticised again for not going in hard enough. Both of these incidents involved local Aboriginal people, not anyone from outside.”
Wright explained that the early months of the year many people from the Pitjanjara lands come to Port Augusta to take part in religious and cultural rituals. Others visit the town to use services such as hospitals, and often camp near the foreshore. There have also been a number of people who have moved to Port Augusta because of the lack of resources in the Pitjanjara lands, and are now part of the local community.
On February 9, Wright was driving near an area known as the Roundhouse, which is used by a group of local Aboriginal people to meet and drink. It is land belonging to the railways, on the outskirts of town and away from any major thoroughfare, but there have been calls in the corporate media to “close it down”. Wright saw a number of police cars and police “acting roughly” toward the group there. He went to speak to police, telling them that their actions were inappropriate, and was told to “fuck off and mind your own business”. Wright sat down with a group of Aboriginal people, who were then told to move on or they would be arrested. The others moved away but Wright refused to. The police, who knew him, were reluctant to arrest him but Wright eventually demanded that they do so. He will appear in court on March 7.
Wright is concerned that bail conditions being set for those arrested in the latest crackdown breach the recommendations of the Royal Commission Into Deaths in Custody, because anyone arrested who does not live in Port Augusta is being bailed on condition that they return home. “Many of them won’t be able to afford to travel back to Port Augusta for their court appearance, so they will end up being arrested and jailed for breaching bail conditions, which is totally against the commission’s recommendations.”
Wright says that the actions of the council and police have created an extremely tense situation in Port Augusta. There have been reports of white “vigilante” groups harrassing and assaulting Aboriginal people, particularly youth. A young Aboriginal woman leaving a nightclub recently was followed by two white men who shouted racist abuse then sexually assaulted her.
A meeting of the Indigenous community on February 21 resolved to send a delegation to Adelaide to meet with state Aboriginal affairs minister Terry Roberts and South Australian Premier Mike Rann.
Wright sees the problems in Port Augusta as a direct result of local, state and federal government policies. “The Aboriginal community in Port Augusta has come up with proposals and plans to address problems such as homelessness and alcohol abuse, but they have all been either rejected by council or caught up in the state government bureaucracy. There is great potential for Port Augusta to become a centre of tourism, based on the art and culture of the Indigenous community, but the mayor and council have no respect for Indigenous culture. We have a situation where attacks on Indigenous people are being carried out at the federal and state level, such as the abolition of ATSIC and defunding of Indigenous organisations. These actions are creating a climate where racist individuals feel encouraged to express their racism.”
From Green Left Weekly, March 2, 2005 @ http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/617/ |
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Parent Article: Port Augusta - Riot Cops to disband Aboriginal meeting places |
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Re: Port Augusta - Riot Cops to disband Aboriginal meeting places |
by irrelevant
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 4
22 Oct 2005
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This is always the case in blaming the white community. The locals wanted to make Port Augusta more attractive to the tourists so they redeveloped the foreshore. They did a wonderful job and I have gone through there so I know.Now there is nothing more unattractive than seeing the hoard of aboriginals who congregate there. I wish we had a Joy Baluch in every town!!
Australia was an aboriginal place but they DO NOT like to share and when something does not go their way, we all have to hear about it.
Good on Joy for cleaning up the town, she has two thumbs up from me. |
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Parent Article: Port Augusta - Riot Cops to disband Aboriginal meeting places |
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Re: Port Augusta - Riot Cops to disband Aboriginal meeting places |
by luke
lmcintyre (unverified) |
Current rating: 2
28 Aug 2006
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you |
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Parent Article: Port Augusta - Riot Cops to disband Aboriginal meeting places |
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Re: Port Augusta - Riot Cops to disband Aboriginal meeting places |
by ardeshir
ardeshirpprb (nospam) yahoo.com.au (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
30 Oct 2006
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Neshan
The Australian International Exhibition of the Badge and the Logo and Coat of Arms
Adelaide 8 - 10 December 2006
Dear Exhibitors and community members
This year Rev Dr Jonathan Barker minister of the Pilgrim Uniting Church is honouring us by inviting us to move into their neighbourhood by participating in the annual "Who is your neighbour program" by showing Neshan in the Flinders Street church. in Adelaide . Take this unique opportunity to explore your own neighbourhood by sharing the badges and their story which you have collected. Meet the jews, muslims, christians, buddhists, journalists, politicians, writers, artists, socialists, women, peace activists, environmentalists, communists, unionists, young and older people so we can live together as neighbours in a better environment.
I want to invite you to join with me in:
“THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF THE BADGE AND THE LOGO AND COAT OF ARMS”
Please supply a Badge and/or Logo of your own creation, or an existing Badge and/or Logo – to exhibit your views on an issue close to your heart.
1. The Badge/Logo should illustrate or represent your view (or organizational view) dealing with issues of importance in such areas as the Environment, Human Rights, Illicit Drug Abuse, War and Peace, Violence in the home, Religious or Sexual or Ethnic Intolerance, or any other issue of importance to our communities, society and the world. But please don’t be constrained by this sample list.If there are other issues of a more personal nature please let your views be seen. For example, Amnesty International has a well-known logo of a candle circled by barbed wire that was inspired by the Chinese proverb: “Better to light a candle than curse the darkness”.
2. Also,any badges that you have to exhibit with a written story of each badge, the badges will be exhibited under your name. If you don’t know the story of the badge you are still welcome to participate or you can write up to one page(you choose the number of words and the format) for all the badges you would like to exhibit.
After the exhibition has finished touring, the badges will be returned to the exhibitors if required. If not, the badges will be donated to the National Museum of Australia as a commemoration of the injury to society sustained in these years.
The Exhibition has had a successful showing in Canberra and Binalong with many people showing interest. It is my intent to show this exhibition nationally in Melbourne , Hobart , Perth , Darwin , Brisbane and Sydney as well as regionally. It may tour internationally.
As a result of the exhibition the material will be compiled into a series of research books for students of Iconography, Politics and History.
If you wish to participate in this travelling exhibition please supply:
• Badges/logos or coat of arms which describes something of importance to you
• Write a short statement describing the motivation behind the badge/logo/coat of arms.
• Entries to be supplied by 30 November 2006
• Exhibition will open Friday 8 December
Friday 8 December to Sunday 10 December 2006 at PILGRIM UNITING CHURCH in the CITY
12 Flinders Street Adelaide South Australia Ph 08 8212 3295 Fax 08 8212 9637 Email: pilgrim (at) pilgrim.org.au Opening performance 10:30 am Friday 8 December
For more information please contact:
Dr Jonathan Barker Email: pilgrim (at) pilgrim.org.au Ph 08 82123295 Fax 08 82129637
Raelene Telfer Email: rjtelfer (at) aapt.net.au Tel: 0883580689 Mobile : 0410058221
Andrew Shore Email: andrew.shore (at) ecovortek.com PO Box 1132 Stirling SA 5152 Tel: 0883392730 Mobile : 0438858343
Regards 26 October 2006
Ardeshir Gholipour
Canberra P.O. Box 573 , Civic Square, ACT 2608, Australia
ardeshirpprb (at) yahoo.com.au,
Please help us by e-mailing this to your friends or releasing to any media
Please address all email to:
Ardeshir Gholipour
Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com |
