Queensland Murri leader Sam Watson called for a new royal commission into Black deaths in custody at a rally outside state parliament on September 15. “Enough is enough. We need urgent action to end Aboriginal deaths in police watchhouses and prisons,” he said.
He announced a national day of action on Aboriginal deaths in custody on November 19, preceded by a series of actions, including a day of commemoration for John Pat, the Aboriginal youth murdered in custody in Roebourne, WA, in October 1985.
He slammed the refusal of Queensland authorities to prosecute Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley for fraud, following revelations he had claimed twice for alleged loss of his personal property during the fire which destroyed the police station on Palm Island in November 2004.
The fire followed the death of Aboriginal man Cameron Doomadgee (Mulrunji) at Hurley’s hands in the Palm Island watchhouse.
Watson also rejected the move by the Queensland Police Union to claim more than $1 million compensation for legal costs arising from the failed criminal case against Hurley.
Reverend Alex Gator told the rally, “Aboriginal people are still treated as outcasts in their own land. We are here today to protest police and corrective services’ racist harassment and brutality toward Aboriginal communities. The white power system may win the battle, but we will win the war. This is Aboriginal land: always was, always will be!”