Up to 1,000 Black Lives Matter protesters have gathered in Darwin and a smaller group has marched in the Far North Queensland town of Innisfail, as part of a series of protest activities planned across Australia.
Key points:
- The protests in Darwin and Innisfail were approved by state authorities under COVID-19 measures
- But refugee rights protests planned for Sydney have been prohibited by the New South Wales Supreme Court
- A Black Lives Matter protest in Perth is planned against the urging of Premier Mark McGowan
The Darwin protest began with a welcome to country and speeches from four young Aboriginal women, followed by a smoking ceremony led by Larrakia elder June Mills.
The organisers successfully lodged a COVID-19 safety plan with the Northern Territory Government, which allowed them to host a gathering of more than 500 people in the territory, which currently has no recorded active coronavirus cases.
In the Far North Queensland town of Innisfail, around 300 people were undeterred by rain, joining a march to highlight Indigenous deaths in custody.
Organiser Brett Ambrun said the rally demonstrated Innisfail was "standing up as a community".
"We want to march down the street, we want to make a difference and say 'enough is enough'," he said.
Protesters were required to register and have temperature checks while marchers set off in groups of 20.
A Black Lives Matter protest is expected to go ahead later today in Perth, despite the WA Premier urging organisers to postpone the event, and despite the City of Perth refusing to grant a permit for it to take place.
Protests against detention and treatment of asylum seekers planned in afternoon
Refugee rights rallies organised by Refugee Action Coalition are also planned in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne today.
The New South Wales Supreme Court has declared today's planned protests prohibited due to coronavirus restrictions and NSW Police have warned officers "will not hesitate to take the appropriate action" against those who attend.
In Melbourne, organisers have said they plan to abide by physical-distancing restrictions by hosting the protests in eight separate locations across the city.
In Brisbane, asylum seeker and refugee rights protesters have been camped outside a hotel believed to be housing asylum seekers.
An Adelaide Black Lives Matter protest planned for today was postponed to July, after authorities refused to issue a permit for the event.
Health experts weigh risks of protest differently
Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week urged Australians not to join the protests, saying "the medical advice is that this is an unsafe thing to do".
Federal Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said on Friday it would not be known for another week or so whether protests last weekend had increased transmission of coronavirus.
Professor Murphy warned that despite organisers' best efforts to reduce risks, "you cannot make them [protests] safe".
But Public Health Association Australia has defended the right for protesters to take to the streets, if it is done safely.
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"Two hugely important public health objectives — Black Lives Matter and COVID-19 — have been framed as competing imperatives. They are not," the public health body's CEO Terry Slevin said in a statement on Friday.
The group urged governments and police to support the right to protest and work to mitigate coronavirus transmission risk by supplying masks to protesters.
"If the same commitment made by Australians and their governments to control COVID-19 was applied to eradicating racism and improving the circumstances of our First People, Australia would be an enormously advanced nation," Mr Slevin said.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMib2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTA2LTEzL2JsYWNrLWxpdmVzLW1hdHRlci1hbmQtcmVmdWdlZS1yaWdodHMtcHJvdGVzdHMtYWNyb3NzLWF1c3RyYWxpYS8xMjM1MTk1MtIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjM1MTk1Mg?oc=5
2020-06-13 02:32:07Z
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