Melbourne NT intervention 2nd anniversary rally, 20 June 2009 - Part I

Rallies were held across Australia on Saturday 20 June to mark the 2nd anniversary of the NT Intervention. Around 200 attended a rally at the State Library in Melbourne, and a large proportion then marched or otherwise made their way to Trades Hall for further discussions and planning. Music played a big part in the rally, with contributions from Indigenous hip hop artists including Tjimba and Little G., as well as Jake Hapeta, who was joined by MC Stan Dryden, Shiralee Hood, and Tjimba in a rendering of 'Australia's new national anthem', and Ezekiel Ox, representing Musicians against Police Violence. Speakers included Robbie Thorpe, Sina Brown-Davis (one of the G20 arrestees due to face trial next week), Frederick (a West Papuan refugee), Gary Murray, Aletha Penrith from Redfern, David Thomason-Koolmatrie and Lisa Koolmatrie (relatives of Mr Ward, who died, as is well-known, in custody in WA), veteran Indigenous activist Gary Foley, and Valerie Martin from Yuendumu NT.
The speeches of Gary Foley and Valerie Martin have been posted on this site, and a further instalment of the rally footage is on its way.

Because of the way State Library grounds are laid out, speakers found themselves beside a statue honouring the memory of Redmond Barry, the judge who hanged Ned Kelly and presided over the trials of many of the Eureka rebels. Another nice touch was that the march to Trades Hall naturally led past the Old Melbourne Jail ...

One of the speakers in this part refers to a 4 Corners program - the program is accessible on http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2009/s2595622.htm

The Indigenous hip hop artists appeared thanks to Nathan Lovett-Murray, founder of Payback Records:
http://www.paybackrecords.com.au/

See also:

http://rollbacktheintervention.wordpress.com/
http://stoptheintervention.org/

This is very rough cut footage, and the camerawork isn't the best, but no disrespect is intended towards any of those taking part.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• nt
• rally
• part1

[starterfire]

@karenapuhi hilarious...Maori claiming they are indigenous to New Zealand...tell that to the Moriori

Do "whites" born in Australia get indigenous rights?

[karenapuhi]

kia ora indigenous rights for all