'Mandatory sentencing is a crime'
BY ANGELA LUVERA
BRISBANE — Forty people picketed the Northern Territory Tourist Bureau here on April 3. Aboriginal rights activist Sam Watson spoke of the need for more people to join the campaign to overturn mandatory sentencing laws in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
In King George Square, 70 people gathered on April 7 to hear speakers condemn mandatory sentencing and the federal government's denial of the existence of the stolen generations. A Murri man, who did not want to give his name, spoke about his experiences of being taken away from his family and community.
Stella Reithmuller, a high school activist from Resistance, called on all present to support the high school walkout and march against mandatory sentencing scheduled for April 14, beginning in King George Square.
The two demonstrations were called by the Community Alliance for Law and Justice Issues, a collective formed to campaign to overturn mandatory sentencing legislation.
MARG PERROTT reports that 500 people in Wollongong marched against mandatory sentencing on April 3. Aboriginal elders and TAFE students joined local activists, welfare workers and university students in the largest anti-racism rally in the Illawarra since the high school walkouts in 1998.
At the head of the march, protesters held a banner from the Coomaditchy artists. Marchers chanted, "Our black kids running out of time. Mandatory sentencing is a crime" and "Justice! Now!". The rally attracted shoppers and passers-by in Wollongong Mall.
Roy "Dutch" Kennedy welcomed the protesters to Wadi Wadi traditional land. He spoke emotively about the plight of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, where more than 73% of those in prison are indigenous. Kennedy led a one-minute silence in remembrance of Aboriginal people who have died in custody.
Aunty Mary Davis, chairperson of the Illawarra Aboriginal Corporation, local ATSIC representative and elder, said, "We need to let the government know that their white laws are hurting Aboriginal people". She pointed out that the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody had concluded that the key to reducing deaths is to find alternatives to custody, especially for young people convicted of minor crimes.
"If the federal government doesn't use its powers to overturn mandatory sentencing, it is only paying lip service to reconciliation", Davis said.
A statement from Gatjil Djerrkura was noisily applauded and Rosemary Gillespie was cheered when she declared, "Governments make laws that let mining companies take over our land at the same time as imprisoning young people for stealing a packet of biscuits".
A meeting of People Against Mandatory Sentencing will be held at 10am, April 17, 2 Wilga Close, Albion Park. Phone Helen Backhouse at 4257 1490.