Antinuclear

Mounted police, canine squad & dozens of police move Aboriginal protestors at Perth’s Heirisson Island

Heirisson Island Aboriginal protest: Police move in to clear campers, ABC News 13 Mar 15  By Rebecca Trigger Angry scenes erupted at Perth’s Heirisson Island today as police and the city moved to dismantle an Aboriginal camp, set up in response to the State Government’s plan to close remote communities.

Dozens of officers, including mounted police and the canine squad moved in on the island at about 3:00pm, after the Perth council gave the group until midday today to remove their belongings……..

The site, near Perth’s CBD, had been described by occupants as a “refugee camp” for people displaced by the Western Australian Government’s planned closure of up to 150 of the state’s 274 remote Indigenous communities……..

Noongar elder Margaret Colbung said the planned closures would only add to homelessness and dispossession of Aboriginal people in the state.

“What are they going to do, where are those community’s people going to go?” she asked.

“We’ve got homeless people on the streets here in Perth. They’ve been here for years.

“No accommodation was provided for them. We attempted many times over the years to find accommodation for those people, and what happened?

“None of the governments, both Labor and Liberal, came to the party to do anything about it.”

She says Heirisson Island, which sits on the banks of the Swan River and is known locally as Matagarup, is a significant site for local Aboriginal people.

“This is an Aboriginal traditional ground. This is traditional birthing ground that belongs to the Noongar people,” she said.

“Until they come across with a pact or a treaty or an agreement, this land belongs to the Noongar people.”……..

The protesters remained on the island on Friday afternoon.

Heirisson Island was the scene of a major confrontation between police and Aboriginal activists in 2012, after a Nyoongar tent embassy was set up on the site to protest a native title agreement for the state’s south-west.

That protest, which also saw people camping on the site for more than a month, was shut down after police removed tents and sleeping gear and moved people on. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-13/police-move-in-to-evacuate-heirisson-island-aboriginal-protest/6316254

March 14, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | aboriginal issues, Western Australia