Tens of Thousands Protest in Australia
on the Day of Land Theft and Genocide
Rally Attacked by Ruthless Police
21 February 2017: It was the largest Invasion Day protest for many years. The burning issue of extreme racism in capitalist Australia could not be hidden. The capitalist media had to discuss this matter publicly as over 50,000 protested in Melbourne and 10,000 marched in Sydney.
In Sydney, Aboriginal speakers outlined the brutal state murders taking place of Aboriginal people in custody and the continued stealing of Aboriginal children from their families by “community service” bureaucrats. The Sydney rally was also addressed by a representative of the MUA trade union and an MUA contingent joined the rally. Also rally participants loudly applauded members of the Muslim community when they stated their solidarity with the Aboriginal people’s struggle for justice.
There has been greater consciousness on the oppression of Aboriginal peoples amongst a section of the masses. They have made it clear that they do not want to celebrate Australia Day like it presently is celebrated. Trying to get onboard the sentiment, many small-l liberals, Greens, and soft-lefts have called for changing the date to a more broadly “acceptable” celebration of Australian nationalism. Even conservatives are calling to change the date of Australia Day. Ian Macfarlane, a noted conservative and representive for Queensland’s mining capitalists, stated he wants ‘Australia Day’ changed to another day.
But the staunch young activists of Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance – WAR called for the abolition of ‘Australia Day’ altogether, rightly stating that:
WAR does not want the date of Invasion Day
(so called ‘Australia Day’) to be changed. WAR
instead stands for the abolishment of the day all
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another day that Australia can celebrate their
nationalism, their patriotism, their past and
present genocidal acts against our people.
https://www.facebook.com/WARcollective/
posts/1245000778928812
In Sydney, police assaulted peaceful protesters towards the conclusion of the Invasion Day rally injuring many protesters. On the videos circulating of the event, big and aggressive policemen are seen without warning charging into the middle of the protest, knocking over many unprepared and smaller framed protesters including the elderly and children. Police tried to justify their violent attack on the rally by claiming they were trying to prevent a young Aboriginal activist from burning the Australian flag – a flag which symbolises colonialist genocide. Burning a flag itself is not illegal but the police came prepared with a fire extinguisher to deliberately harass Aboriginal activists on a day of mourning and protest against systematic racism in Australia. From pictures and videos, at least one young male protester and one young female protester were seen unconscious and in extreme pain after being knocked over by police. It seems the young man fell on his head as he was violently knocked backwards by the rampaging police. The young woman later was revealed to have suffered serious head injuries and had to spend a week in hospital. Showing commendable solidarity, many Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people came to the assistance of their fellow demonstrators who were being attacked. Police outrageously arrested one protestor on the day. FIRE (Fighting In Resistance Equally), the organiser for the Sydney rally, released a statement condemning the reckless police attack and called for the bogus charges to be dropped against the arrested protester. Subsequently, a second protestor has been charged. Trotskyist Platform adds our voice to the call for all the bogus charges to be dropped against all those protesters charged from the Invasion Day march.
The police attack on the Invasion Day protest march is typical of the racist and antiworking class police in Australia. We call for our trade unions to mobilise in bigger numbers to support future Aboriginal rights actions. Through the presence of unions playing a prominent role, police and their capitalist masters will think twice before they attack another Aboriginal protest as it could provoke a greater working class and industrial backlash. The participation of the workers movement united with Aboriginal people is integral to the fight for Aboriginal rights and to the fight against racism. Not only should the workers movement be focused on just the workers’ immediate economic issues but also on advancing the overall struggle of the whole working class and all the oppressed as one force against the racist capitalist exploiters.
