Antinuclear

National protests against plans to close remote Aboriginal communities

#SOSBlakAustralia call goes out across the land to save remote Indigenous communities, Crikey  MARIE MCINERNEY | MAR 19, 2015 A day of action to protest plans to close remote Indigenous communities in Western Australia ended up not only trending nationally on Twitter but hit the streets in real-life, with rallies across Australia, from Derby and Roebourne to Townsville and Tasmania.

The largest protest was, understandably, in Perth, fuelled by Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s “lifestyle choice” comments last week. They also prompted this call today by Close the Gap campaign co-chairs Mick Gooda and Kirstie Parker for the governments to re-engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, saying the decisions being made about remote communities are “highly damaging and a breach of inherent rights”.

Such was the growing momentum on the issue that Premier Colin Barnett addressed the rally in Perth – see The West Australian’s report and other media coverage of the protest (and  2015 Close the Gap day events):……

Below is a selection of the #SOSBlakAustralia tweets that captured virtual and real-life protest through the day, from organisations and individuals, including high profile sports and arts figures. Not even a pending cyclone was going to stop them: [tweets reproduced here]  http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2015/03/19/sosblakaustralia-call-goes-out-across-the-land-to-save-remote-indigenous-communities/

March 21, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | aboriginal issues, AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, Western Australia