'Nothing is stopping us': Black Lives Matter protesters to push ahead
Aboriginal leaders say nothing will stop them marching in a Black Lives Matter protest in Sydney, despite NSW Police making a desperate final move to deem it illegal amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Thousands of people were expected to attend the rally at Sydney’s Town Hall on Saturday, protesting Aboriginal deaths in custody and the alleged murder of African American George Floyd in Minneapolis last month.
Nathan Moran, CEO of the Metro Local Aboriginal Land Council, and Kyah Patten will be marching in Saturday's Black Lives Matter protest. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer
And while NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Thursday said she never wanted to “take away the right of people to demonstrate their ability to protest,” by Friday afternoon she had labelled the rally “illegal” after several senior ministers publicly voiced their concerns.
She agreed for NSW Police chief Michael Fuller to apply to the Supreme Court for an injunction to deem the rally illegal.
The court dispute dragged on through Friday evening, with the police seeking a court order that the protest be prohibited under the Summary Offences Act.
Under cross examination by the barrister for NSW Police, protest organiser Raul Bassi said he expected about 5000 people to attend.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian addresses the media on Friday afternoon. Credit:Rhett Wyman
The court heard NSW Police opposed the protest not only because it breached restrictions imposed to stop the spread of COVID-19 but because of the risk of violence.
An affidavit by NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant has been tendered in court in support of the application.
Leetona Dungay, whose son David died in Long Bay jail in 2015, is comforted outside the NSW Supreme Court on Friday.Credit:Janie Barrett
The alleged murder of Mr Floyd, who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes while he was handcuffed face down on the street, has sparked protests over systemic inequality worldwide and prompted protests over Aboriginal deaths in custody across Australia this week.
Despite the political and legal argument over the protest, CEO of the Metro Local Aboriginal Land Council Nathan Moran said he and scores of other Indigenous people would attend the rally “rain, hail or shine”.
“We will go regardless, this issue is more important than a fine,” he said.
“We have no faith in anything changing unless we make the change.”
Mr Moran said he was bitterly disappointed to see Ms Berejiklian “backflip” within 24 hours of endorsing the right for everyone to protest. He questioned why a rally about 5G and vaccinations wasn’t met with the same opposition from the government last week.
“Why wouldn’t it look to us like that’s discrimination?,” Mr Moran said.
Leetona Dungay outside the NSW Supreme Court.Credit:Janie Barrett
The mother of David Dungay, who died in Long Bay jail in 2015 after prison officers physically restrained and sedated him, said she also planned to march.
“I’m marching for my son and nothing is stopping me,” Leetona Dungay said in front of the Supreme Court on Friday. “If we don’t March tomorrow that means they’ll keep killing people.”
Four new cases of coronavirus were reported in NSW on Friday, taking the state’s total to 3110. All the new cases were in quarantine hotels with no community transmission recorded in more than a week.
Both Ms Berejiklian and Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy warned there could be a second wave of infections if people didn’t continue to adhere to social distancing guidelines.
Dr Murphy said any large, uncontrolled gathering could undermine the months of lockdown.
“It would be very foolish to sacrifice by exposing the population to a larger outbreak, all of those gains, or many of those gains, by uncontrolled, large gatherings,” he said.
Commissioner Fuller warned that anyone caught breaching health orders could be arrested or fined at the planned protest if numbers ticked above 500.
“If hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people turn up, then they're in breach of the health order and, if they haven't complied with the Supreme Court, then obviously all of the police powers available to us can be used,” he said.
Both Treasurer Dominic Perrottet and Police Minister David Elliott took to radio on Friday morning to voice their anger over the fact the protest was likely to go ahead. Mr Perrottet said it was “indefensible” and “ridiculous”.