Black Lives Matter with IndigenousX (Premiere) | Digital Season
概要
TLDREl panel, moderado por Larissa Berent, aborda la respuesta de Black Lives Matter en Australia, enfocándose en la brutalidad policial y el racismo institucional que afecta a las comunidades indígenas y refugiadas. Los panelistas, Tony McAvoy y Deng Thiak Adut, discuten la necesidad de reformas en el sistema judicial, la sobreincarceración de personas indígenas y la importancia de la reinversión en la justicia. Se enfatiza que el cambio requiere un compromiso político y un cambio en la percepción pública sobre el racismo y la justicia. Además, se plantea la necesidad de alternativas a la prisión para los jóvenes y se critica la falta de acción del gobierno ante la injusticia racial.
収穫
- ✊ La importancia de Black Lives Matter en Australia.
- 📉 La sobreincarceración de indígenas es un problema crítico.
- 🏛️ Se necesita un cambio en el sistema judicial.
- 💔 La brutalidad policial afecta a comunidades vulnerables.
- 🌍 La reinversión en justicia puede prevenir el crimen.
- 🚫 Desfinanciar la policía implica redirigir fondos a la comunidad.
- 🗣️ La voz de los jóvenes es crucial para el cambio.
- 🤝 La educación es clave para combatir el racismo.
- 📜 Se requieren tratados para empoderar a las comunidades indígenas.
- 💡 La acción política es necesaria para lograr reformas.
タイムライン
- 00:00:00 - 00:05:00
Luke Pearson, fundador de Indigenous X, presenta un panel sobre la respuesta a Black Lives Matter, destacando la brutalidad policial y la necesidad de reformas en Australia, especialmente en relación con las comunidades indígenas y refugiadas.
- 00:05:00 - 00:10:00
Larissa Berent introduce a los panelistas, incluyendo a Tony McAvoy, un abogado indígena, y Deng Thiak Adut, un ex niño soldado y abogado, quienes comparten sus experiencias y perspectivas sobre la brutalidad policial y el racismo institucional en Australia.
- 00:10:00 - 00:15:00
Deng comparte su reacción a las imágenes de George Floyd, expresando que aunque no se sintió directamente afectado, se preocupa más por la situación de los indígenas en Australia y la brutalidad policial que enfrentan.
- 00:15:00 - 00:20:00
Tony expresa sorpresa por la respuesta global a la muerte de Floyd, señalando que la pandemia de COVID-19 ha llevado a las personas a reflexionar sobre la sociedad que desean, y cómo esto ha generado un apoyo significativo para el movimiento Black Lives Matter en Australia.
- 00:20:00 - 00:25:00
Deng y Tony discuten la importancia de abordar los problemas locales en Australia, como la sobreincarceración de los indígenas y la falta de protección judicial para ellos, destacando la necesidad de un cambio en la percepción pública y política.
- 00:25:00 - 00:30:00
Tony señala que el sistema no está listo para cambiar, citando ejemplos de actitudes discriminatorias dentro de la policía y el gobierno, y enfatiza que se necesita un movimiento sustancial para lograr reformas significativas.
- 00:30:00 - 00:35:00
Deng critica la falta de responsabilidad en el gobierno y la política, expresando desconfianza en el sistema político actual y sugiriendo que el cambio es poco probable sin una nueva generación de líderes.
- 00:35:00 - 00:43:16
Ambos panelistas abordan el concepto de 'defundir la policía' y la necesidad de redirigir fondos hacia programas comunitarios que aborden las causas subyacentes de la criminalidad, en lugar de construir más cárceles.
マインドマップ
ビデオQ&A
¿Qué es Indigenous X?
Indigenous X es una organización que promueve la voz y los derechos de las comunidades indígenas en Australia.
¿Cuál es el enfoque del panel?
El panel se centra en la respuesta de Black Lives Matter en Australia y la necesidad de reformas en el sistema judicial.
¿Quiénes son los panelistas?
Los panelistas son Tony McAvoy, un abogado indígena, y Deng Thiak Adut, un abogado y defensor de refugiados.
¿Qué temas se discuten en el panel?
Se discuten la brutalidad policial, el racismo institucional, la sobreincarceración de indígenas y la reinversión en la justicia.
¿Qué es la reinversión en la justicia?
Es un enfoque que busca redirigir fondos de la policía y el sistema penitenciario hacia programas comunitarios que prevengan el crimen.
¿Qué significa 'desfinanciar la policía'?
Significa reducir el financiamiento a la policía y redirigir esos recursos hacia iniciativas comunitarias.
¿Qué se necesita para lograr un cambio en el sistema?
Se necesita un compromiso político y un cambio en la percepción pública sobre el racismo y la justicia.
¿Cómo se relaciona Black Lives Matter con Australia?
El movimiento ha resonado en Australia, destacando problemas como la brutalidad policial y la injusticia hacia las comunidades indígenas.
¿Qué papel juegan los jóvenes en este contexto?
Los jóvenes son cruciales para el cambio, y se necesitan alternativas a la prisión para evitar su encarcelamiento.
¿Qué se puede hacer para abordar el racismo en la comunidad?
Es necesario educar y crear conciencia sobre el racismo y fomentar el respeto hacia las comunidades indígenas.
ビデオをもっと見る
- 00:00:29yama
- 00:00:30i'm luke pearson gomorrah man and
- 00:00:32founder of indigenous x
- 00:00:34indigenous x has been invited to curate
- 00:00:36this panel today
- 00:00:37to talk in response to black lives
- 00:00:39matter and speak to some of the reforms
- 00:00:41that are much needed across the country
- 00:00:43in a number of different
- 00:00:44areas in response black lives matter
- 00:00:47has been a global movement obviously
- 00:00:49beginning in america in response to
- 00:00:50police brutality
- 00:00:51and the killing of african-american
- 00:00:53people by police
- 00:00:54in australia it's resonated on a number
- 00:00:57of different issues
- 00:00:58with a number of different communities
- 00:00:59obviously indigenous australia
- 00:01:01with over policing over incarceration
- 00:01:04rates
- 00:01:05and most notably aboriginal deaths in
- 00:01:06custody but it also speaks to our
- 00:01:08refugee communities
- 00:01:10and members of the african diaspora
- 00:01:12along similar lines
- 00:01:14of institutional racism police brutality
- 00:01:17and need for reform so our panel today
- 00:01:20will be led by larissa berent
- 00:01:22who will introduce the manners and lead
- 00:01:24the conversation thank you
- 00:01:26thank you luke it is my great privilege
- 00:01:28to introduce our panel
- 00:01:31tony mcavoy sc is a wordy man from the
- 00:01:34central queensland
- 00:01:35area around clermont he is also a native
- 00:01:38title holder in his grandmother's
- 00:01:40country around
- 00:01:41thagaminda in southwest queensland
- 00:01:44he's been a barrister since 2000 and
- 00:01:47senior council since
- 00:01:482015 the first indigenous australian to
- 00:01:51get that honour
- 00:01:53he currently chairs the new south wales
- 00:01:55bar association's first nations
- 00:01:57committee and
- 00:01:58is a member of the new south wales bar
- 00:02:00indigenous
- 00:02:01joint working party on
- 00:02:03over-incarceration
- 00:02:04he is co-chair of the law council of
- 00:02:07australia's indigenous legal issues
- 00:02:09committee
- 00:02:09and is a member of the law council's
- 00:02:12indigenous incarceration working group
- 00:02:15he was co-senior council assisting the
- 00:02:18dondale royal commission
- 00:02:20deng thiak adut was a former child
- 00:02:23soldier from south sudan before he
- 00:02:25immigrated to australia
- 00:02:27he earned his law degree at western
- 00:02:30sydney university
- 00:02:31and now works as a refugee advocate and
- 00:02:34lawyer
- 00:02:35his story has been an inspiration to
- 00:02:37many and his
- 00:02:38is an important and powerful voice he
- 00:02:41was named the 2017
- 00:02:44new south wales australian of the year
- 00:02:47dang
- 00:02:47i might start with you and ask how you
- 00:02:49felt when you first saw those images of
- 00:02:52george floyd
- 00:02:54and i'm interested if you could share
- 00:02:55with us the emotions and thoughts
- 00:02:58that came to you when those images were
- 00:03:00sent around the world
- 00:03:03um to be honest with the
- 00:03:07answer um i didn't feel any different
- 00:03:12my thought was something that is
- 00:03:16often that i see on television and
- 00:03:20it was something that is i would say
- 00:03:23have nothing to do with me generally
- 00:03:26even though
- 00:03:27it was a black man i he's
- 00:03:30american it's not african
- 00:03:33and i'm more concerned of
- 00:03:36the african here in australia all
- 00:03:40indigenous people in australia and in
- 00:03:42general
- 00:03:43every shelling that are here so if it
- 00:03:46was
- 00:03:47an australian man i would
- 00:03:50have thought differently i would say
- 00:03:54that's wrong but that is a different
- 00:03:56business that's none of my business
- 00:03:58but what i was more concerned of was
- 00:04:01um i'm i'm i'm a former child soldier
- 00:04:05i know the injuries people suffer
- 00:04:09i know what falls i was trained
- 00:04:12properly i know what you can do with
- 00:04:16your hand to hurt somebody
- 00:04:18or even placing your knee but that man
- 00:04:20was he was sleeping
- 00:04:22just almost he was just using him as a
- 00:04:24mattress so i was like
- 00:04:27that is something that i shouldn't be
- 00:04:29talking about but yes
- 00:04:31um it's none of my business shouldn't be
- 00:04:33talking about
- 00:04:34something else that concerned me in
- 00:04:36australia i think that would be my
- 00:04:38business
- 00:04:39and that's where the black lives matters
- 00:04:41came into
- 00:04:42when i when i touched on those issues
- 00:04:45concerning australia
- 00:04:46but at this stage it's america and
- 00:04:49those people how they got there we all
- 00:04:51know very well
- 00:04:52how they got there and so i can
- 00:04:56can talk about it i'm going to talk
- 00:04:57about specifically things that concern
- 00:04:59me in australia
- 00:05:00that's how i look at it and um
- 00:05:03i'd love to come back to you on that
- 00:05:05next but i just want to ask you tony
- 00:05:08have you been surprised by the response
- 00:05:11across
- 00:05:11the u.s and around the world and
- 00:05:13particularly in australia
- 00:05:15to those images of george floyd given
- 00:05:18how long this has been an issue in
- 00:05:19australia
- 00:05:21yes i was surprised not initially but as
- 00:05:24it went on through the days and weeks
- 00:05:27i was surprised and i think
- 00:05:30i hadn't quite understood how
- 00:05:33deeply affected people were
- 00:05:37by the video which was if you watched it
- 00:05:40it was heart-wrenching
- 00:05:45and that combined with i think the times
- 00:05:48that we're in
- 00:05:50where people have had down time with
- 00:05:54with the covid19 virus had
- 00:05:57they've had time to think about the type
- 00:05:59of society that they want to
- 00:06:01live in and while
- 00:06:04i'm on all of these committees which you
- 00:06:07so nicely spelt out
- 00:06:09um we have been working hard
- 00:06:12the members of that those committees
- 00:06:14worked very hard to try and engage at
- 00:06:17all levels to bring about change
- 00:06:20and we run into brick walls and we find
- 00:06:24limited levels of assistance but
- 00:06:28what i think happened with the george
- 00:06:30floyd
- 00:06:31and the death and the black lives matter
- 00:06:34campaign is that
- 00:06:36it tapped into people's sense of
- 00:06:39what sort of society they want to live
- 00:06:41in do they want to live in a society
- 00:06:43where unfairness and
- 00:06:48a lack of equality pervades
- 00:06:51the the society and i think what's
- 00:06:54happened is that a large number of
- 00:06:56people have said no
- 00:06:57they've had time to think about it and
- 00:06:58they've said no we don't want to live in
- 00:07:00that society
- 00:07:01and i was pleasantly surprised by the
- 00:07:03level of support that is that has come
- 00:07:04out and
- 00:07:05i i think that level of support which
- 00:07:08you've seen in
- 00:07:09in the united states and um and that
- 00:07:11which you're seeing here
- 00:07:13is enough to move political opinion
- 00:07:19dang just to come back to the
- 00:07:21observation you made about
- 00:07:23how it's perhaps important to think more
- 00:07:25locally and about the issues around
- 00:07:27us i wonder if you could then talk to us
- 00:07:29about
- 00:07:30what the what black lives matter means
- 00:07:32to you in the australian context what
- 00:07:34are the issues that should be resonating
- 00:07:36with us
- 00:07:38thank you very much and i think it's the
- 00:07:41most beautiful
- 00:07:42question part two and i think tony and i
- 00:07:45will share the same opinion and nearly
- 00:07:47every single australian
- 00:07:49would share this similar opinion
- 00:07:55last year i do remember
- 00:07:59the high court decision concerning
- 00:08:02indigenous fellows
- 00:08:05that were locked up at a detention
- 00:08:07center
- 00:08:09and they wanted to deport them somewhere
- 00:08:22sometimes people cries sometimes people
- 00:08:25heard
- 00:08:26a lot but
- 00:08:29i couldn't believe
- 00:08:32that there is a high court
- 00:08:36there in australia that will look after
- 00:08:39interests of black fellows or people
- 00:08:42like me
- 00:08:44or a man that had a blood of aboriginal
- 00:08:47drop in his skin and he still couldn't
- 00:08:49even define
- 00:08:51what his this is status for us
- 00:08:54he's slapping the label he's aboriginal
- 00:08:56i'm not aboriginal
- 00:08:57my citizenship is rubbish compared
- 00:09:01to his bloodline that drop of blood
- 00:09:06and make my sins look like a piece of
- 00:09:08crap in my view
- 00:09:10but we deny them we even went to a high
- 00:09:14court or was mary gordon
- 00:09:15who said that this is unacceptable when
- 00:09:18do we have to go back
- 00:09:20to where do we go this is full of stuff
- 00:09:22for me so for me is
- 00:09:24i don't even think there's there is any
- 00:09:26any judicial system that can protect
- 00:09:29a black man i think maybe a political
- 00:09:32will
- 00:09:32is is is a solution at the moment but
- 00:09:35when i
- 00:09:36caught stopped right there at defining
- 00:09:39these
- 00:09:39indigenous people my heart was broken
- 00:09:42and i decided that i shouldn't even be
- 00:09:45here in australia
- 00:09:46if these people are not here just go to
- 00:09:48tony's point about what kind of country
- 00:09:50we want
- 00:09:51um i just want to go back to something
- 00:09:53you said tony because of course the
- 00:09:55there has been a a as you mentioned a
- 00:09:57real shift in
- 00:09:58public perception and public awareness
- 00:10:00of these issues but i was wondering
- 00:10:03do you think at this moment that there
- 00:10:06is the possibility to lead to greater
- 00:10:08changes to the sorts of reforms
- 00:10:10you mentioned that your committees were
- 00:10:11working on is the system ready to change
- 00:10:16i don't believe that the system is ready
- 00:10:18to change right now
- 00:10:20in fact i think that we only need to
- 00:10:22look at the
- 00:10:24response from the new south wales
- 00:10:26commissioner for police when confronted
- 00:10:28with the young aboriginal man who'd had
- 00:10:30his child
- 00:10:32had his feet swept out from underneath
- 00:10:34him by police officers and his
- 00:10:35face slammed into the cement the
- 00:10:38commissioner for police
- 00:10:40said something along the lines of i
- 00:10:41think that that constable would agree he
- 00:10:43was having a bad day
- 00:10:45and that's the attitude of
- 00:10:48an apologist for what is discriminatory
- 00:10:51and totally unacceptable conduct
- 00:10:55similarly at the national level we
- 00:10:58had the prime minister trying to
- 00:11:01deny that there had been practices of
- 00:11:03slavery in this country
- 00:11:05and those that type of language and
- 00:11:08those
- 00:11:08types of responses are consistent with
- 00:11:12a an attitude of
- 00:11:15[Music]
- 00:11:16there's nothing really to look at here
- 00:11:19let's move along
- 00:11:20it's an american issue we've got no
- 00:11:22problems here
- 00:11:23and it's trying to say to the general
- 00:11:25population
- 00:11:27don't get caught up in it don't worry
- 00:11:29about it too much we are in a pretty
- 00:11:31good place
- 00:11:33when in fact
- 00:11:36of course we aren't the similarities
- 00:11:39in terms of systemic racism
- 00:11:42are very strong and
- 00:11:47we only have to look at some of the
- 00:11:50the judgments in the courts last year a
- 00:11:56a coroner's report was handed down in
- 00:11:58relation to a death at
- 00:12:00a tumor hospital of an aboriginal woman
- 00:12:02night naomi williams a graduate woman
- 00:12:05who had been denied service by
- 00:12:08by the health workers over a
- 00:12:11period of 12 months until
- 00:12:14it reached a point where she died and
- 00:12:16the coroner found that
- 00:12:18that that was as a consequence of
- 00:12:21systemic racism we we
- 00:12:24uh we only need to look at the coroner's
- 00:12:27report into this
- 00:12:28the the deaths of young people in in
- 00:12:30broome
- 00:12:32there were 13 suicides which the coroner
- 00:12:35in western australia looked at and
- 00:12:37found that the coroner found that one of
- 00:12:40the
- 00:12:40factors that led to the
- 00:12:43position of despair of such despair in
- 00:12:46these young people
- 00:12:49that they would commit suicide
- 00:12:53was the effect of
- 00:12:57intergenerational trauma as a result of
- 00:12:59the ongoing colonial process
- 00:13:02[Music]
- 00:13:03we have all of these
- 00:13:07objective measures where courts or
- 00:13:10reports have been
- 00:13:11completed and and they all generally say
- 00:13:16that there is systemic racism in the way
- 00:13:18in which aboriginal
- 00:13:20and torres strait islander people first
- 00:13:22nation people are treated in this
- 00:13:23country and
- 00:13:25until we get to a point where government
- 00:13:28is prepared to acknowledge that yes
- 00:13:30that's what is happening and
- 00:13:33take action um
- 00:13:36i think that that's going to persist and
- 00:13:38and i think that
- 00:13:40um state and com and the
- 00:13:43commonwealth government would like it to
- 00:13:44persist in its current form
- 00:13:46and so in answer to the question of uh
- 00:13:49is there change to come i think
- 00:13:51that there is the potential for change
- 00:13:53to come but um it
- 00:13:54it would take a substantial movement
- 00:13:58and the the support that we've had
- 00:14:01through the black
- 00:14:02lives matters campaigns in australia
- 00:14:06could be converted to political power
- 00:14:10if for instance every one of those
- 00:14:11people that attended a black lives
- 00:14:13matter rally
- 00:14:14wrote to their local member and said i
- 00:14:17will not vote for your party unless it
- 00:14:19does something
- 00:14:20uh substantial to address the systemic
- 00:14:23racism
- 00:14:24against people of color in this country
- 00:14:28and i don't know whether people are
- 00:14:31committed enough to to write to their
- 00:14:32local member and say that but
- 00:14:34you know if it's just us uh and our
- 00:14:37three percent
- 00:14:38uh saying the things that we've been
- 00:14:40saying for the last 30 years
- 00:14:42i don't think we can force that change
- 00:14:44if those people who have
- 00:14:46shown their support and their
- 00:14:48unwillingness to accept
- 00:14:49the the system as it is uh come along
- 00:14:52with us
- 00:14:53well then uh i think there is potential
- 00:14:55for some change dean
- 00:15:01tony talks about the systemic racism and
- 00:15:04we can
- 00:15:05look at judges who make decisions are
- 00:15:07products of a
- 00:15:08society police officers who engage
- 00:15:12in in conduct that is questionable
- 00:15:15and and inappropriate are products of
- 00:15:18society
- 00:15:19i was wondering what your thoughts are
- 00:15:21about how
- 00:15:23we go about addressing the attitudes
- 00:15:25more broadly in the community
- 00:15:27how do from your perspective how do we
- 00:15:29tackle that racism
- 00:15:30how do we change people's perspectives
- 00:15:33more broadly
- 00:15:37this is 2020.
- 00:15:41and by the way i've been in this country
- 00:15:45so far for 20 22 years and one day from
- 00:15:48today
- 00:15:50yes came to australia june 1998 26th of
- 00:15:54june
- 00:15:55and yesterday was my 22nd years
- 00:15:59of living here and
- 00:16:05these 22 good years what i have seen
- 00:16:09so far have been a progress that is
- 00:16:11worthwhile
- 00:16:12to realize and the australian community
- 00:16:15been working so hard i'm talking about
- 00:16:17the australian community
- 00:16:19but what in the parliament has
- 00:16:25what's in the parliament house do not
- 00:16:27represent
- 00:16:28us none of them prime minister
- 00:16:33does he like me no black man like me no
- 00:16:36hell no
- 00:16:36that's why he he basically condoned what
- 00:16:39the police
- 00:16:41said you know or say there's no systemic
- 00:16:44racism or say well the police officer
- 00:16:47had a
- 00:16:48bad day how could he have a bad day when
- 00:16:50you are a responsible person
- 00:16:52you see there is no responsible
- 00:16:55parliament each of them
- 00:16:56will never take responsibility for what
- 00:16:58they say or what they do
- 00:17:00their promises have been empty for me
- 00:17:04i just say it as a black man all i got
- 00:17:06to do is
- 00:17:07i just got a ticket i would take this
- 00:17:10racism i'm not going to stop them from
- 00:17:11doing it
- 00:17:12they've been practicing it like a
- 00:17:14football game
- 00:17:15and they've been they have upper hands
- 00:17:18and let them do it
- 00:17:20let them do it i just think that it's
- 00:17:23okay
- 00:17:24if i die eventually or any other people
- 00:17:27die like
- 00:17:27george george george floyd or
- 00:17:30indigenous brothers are being locked up
- 00:17:32incarcerated it's like
- 00:17:34we have a concentration camp being built
- 00:17:37in a
- 00:17:38country and if
- 00:17:42a black child died i would actually
- 00:17:45i'm quite happy to even
- 00:17:49film it keep it keep it on and then let
- 00:17:51the police i won't even persecute the
- 00:17:52person that
- 00:17:53who who could kill these black people
- 00:17:56because they get a ticket they got a
- 00:17:58license
- 00:17:59when they go to court the court doesn't
- 00:18:01do much attached to it
- 00:18:03all this man going to get is basically
- 00:18:05nothing
- 00:18:06you're going to get a slapping arrest
- 00:18:07maybe you're going to flee mental
- 00:18:08illness
- 00:18:09other than that and he had a bad day a
- 00:18:11bad day basically will flee the mental
- 00:18:14illness or stress related but
- 00:18:17why do you give a man a gun in his hand
- 00:18:19and give him a taser
- 00:18:20when you know he has a stress what is he
- 00:18:23gonna do
- 00:18:24ruin a community do something bad so i
- 00:18:27don't think um
- 00:18:28there is anybody in the parliament house
- 00:18:30there that i would relied upon and say
- 00:18:32that i would bought for them i'm not
- 00:18:34going to vote
- 00:18:34for none of them these this election
- 00:18:37what i will do
- 00:18:38basically is um i'll put my boats on my
- 00:18:42ass where they
- 00:18:43belong but i'm not boarding for none of
- 00:18:44them what is
- 00:18:46what they're gonna do nothing so i don't
- 00:18:49have a trust
- 00:18:50in a political system at this stage
- 00:18:52until there's a new politician come in
- 00:18:54but most of them being diagnosed in the
- 00:18:56parliament house
- 00:18:57they've been there for 20 10 years 15
- 00:18:59years and doing the same calculated
- 00:19:01crime
- 00:19:02against black fellows that's what i'm
- 00:19:04saying so
- 00:19:06i don't agree i don't believe about tony
- 00:19:09say that the change
- 00:19:10may come if it may not come this is
- 00:19:13you just becoming the first aboriginal
- 00:19:16shield qc this is 2020.
- 00:19:20so i don't think there's any much will
- 00:19:21change all we got to do is just keep
- 00:19:23working hard
- 00:19:24doing the best we can do to help
- 00:19:26everybody that leave
- 00:19:27among us and we're not going to i don't
- 00:19:30think tony gonna stop
- 00:19:31doing that i'll do the same thing but in
- 00:19:34term of looking at
- 00:19:35the other man the other side he's i'm
- 00:19:37not expecting anything much from that
- 00:19:39person
- 00:19:40i expect worse from him i just have a
- 00:19:42hopes
- 00:19:43and that's all the greater thing that i
- 00:19:44have carried all my shoulders
- 00:19:46and i know i would tell people keep
- 00:19:49hoping but
- 00:19:50otherwise the government is not there to
- 00:19:51answer any it's not there to
- 00:19:54give us any answers tony
- 00:19:58one of the conversations that's flowed
- 00:20:00from
- 00:20:01the attention to black black lives
- 00:20:04matter and the spotlight coming on
- 00:20:06a lot more broadly onto
- 00:20:09aboriginal deaths in custody are
- 00:20:11concepts of justice reinvestment
- 00:20:13and the notion of defunding the police
- 00:20:16and i wondered if you could share your
- 00:20:17thoughts on
- 00:20:18those strategies around how we should be
- 00:20:22approaching things like policing
- 00:20:26it's an interesting discussion that's
- 00:20:29been having
- 00:20:30that's been happening around the notion
- 00:20:32of defunding the police it's become
- 00:20:35a catch cry for holding the
- 00:20:39police forces around the world to
- 00:20:41account and um
- 00:20:42it i think it frightens some people
- 00:20:44because they think
- 00:20:46it means we will have no police
- 00:20:49but but what is intended by that
- 00:20:51statement that
- 00:20:52catch cry defund the police is that
- 00:20:56that the funding to the police
- 00:20:59is is largely taken away and
- 00:21:02directed towards community-based
- 00:21:06community-led
- 00:21:08early intervention projects
- 00:21:12that will help community health and help
- 00:21:15community
- 00:21:16strength so that there isn't the need
- 00:21:19for the current model of of
- 00:21:22community safety that we have where um
- 00:21:25communities are left
- 00:21:26to fend for themselves and when people
- 00:21:28make mistakes then then
- 00:21:30they get to feel the full force of the
- 00:21:31law people are saying well that that
- 00:21:33model's not working
- 00:21:35and it's certainly not working in
- 00:21:36australia um
- 00:21:39because we we know that the
- 00:21:42incarceration rate of
- 00:21:45of indigenous people is is going through
- 00:21:47the roof um
- 00:21:49we know that it's continued to go up
- 00:21:53since the
- 00:21:54recommendations in the in the royal
- 00:21:56commission into aboriginal and ireland
- 00:21:57to death in custody was handed down in
- 00:21:591991
- 00:22:00and it doesn't look like slowing
- 00:22:04and the way in which we are going about
- 00:22:06trying to address
- 00:22:08policing and the notion of incarceration
- 00:22:12as a
- 00:22:12as a mechanism for community safety
- 00:22:16is failing and there's
- 00:22:20no more stark contrast
- 00:22:24of the problems with the system
- 00:22:27then the announcement last week of the
- 00:22:30770 million dollar prison in grafton
- 00:22:35in an area which is largely populated by
- 00:22:38aboriginal people and we know
- 00:22:40that the the a large percentage of that
- 00:22:42population
- 00:22:43the prison population some 1700
- 00:22:46prisoners are reportedly the largest in
- 00:22:48australia
- 00:22:48will be aboriginal people from the north
- 00:22:51coast of new south wales
- 00:22:52it's a very sad day the
- 00:22:55the company that has the
- 00:22:58the contract to service and run that
- 00:23:02jail is serco
- 00:23:03a worldwide company that has contracts
- 00:23:06for a whole
- 00:23:06range of things including villawood and
- 00:23:09that that contract to run that facility
- 00:23:11for
- 00:23:1220 years i think is something like 2.6
- 00:23:14billion dollars
- 00:23:16but we also know those of us who are
- 00:23:19trying to push reform and be progressive
- 00:23:23we know that
- 00:23:24the the justice reinvestment program in
- 00:23:28burke
- 00:23:28which has been an outstanding success
- 00:23:33has saved the uh the government millions
- 00:23:36of dollars
- 00:23:37and been done on a shoestring um
- 00:23:40there have been calls for that to be
- 00:23:42expanded and
- 00:23:44the australian law reform commission in
- 00:23:47its report that it handed down to
- 00:23:49almost three years ago two and a half
- 00:23:51years ago in december 2017
- 00:23:53the very first recommendation that they
- 00:23:54made was that
- 00:23:56the the justice reinvestment programs be
- 00:23:59rolled out across the country as a as a
- 00:24:01mechanism for
- 00:24:03redirecting money out of the
- 00:24:07justice and policing
- 00:24:10and incarceration model to a
- 00:24:13community-led
- 00:24:14community strengthening and community
- 00:24:16health model
- 00:24:19there is no funding for that to be
- 00:24:20rolled out it would cost
- 00:24:23a a minute fraction of the cost
- 00:24:26of building that new jail at grafton
- 00:24:30and yet burke still remains a pilot
- 00:24:32project
- 00:24:33some five years down the track
- 00:24:38that report by the australian law reform
- 00:24:41commission
- 00:24:42on over-incarceration of aboriginal
- 00:24:44people that came out in december 2017
- 00:24:48has not even received a response from
- 00:24:51the federal government
- 00:24:53there has been no response from the the
- 00:24:55state of new south wales
- 00:24:58and we know
- 00:25:01that the justice reinvestment programs
- 00:25:04work yet the
- 00:25:08the model that we're locked into in this
- 00:25:10country is one
- 00:25:12where people are locked up in jails
- 00:25:16and their and it's a whole industry
- 00:25:20which the government is party to and i
- 00:25:22don't know how we break out of that
- 00:25:27dang i just wanted to give you a chance
- 00:25:28if you had any thoughts about what tony
- 00:25:30had said in your own thoughts about
- 00:25:32justice reinvestment in the concept of
- 00:25:34defund the police
- 00:25:39i i think that would make a great
- 00:25:42uh difference to the community it will
- 00:25:44make a great progress
- 00:25:48but to invest in building
- 00:25:52a jail to lock up human beings
- 00:25:57like they some sort of stock it's
- 00:26:00unacceptable
- 00:26:01especially for me as a member of african
- 00:26:05community
- 00:26:06general as australian in general as a
- 00:26:09member of
- 00:26:11um humane society i call it humane
- 00:26:14society
- 00:26:15i'm not talking about animal protection
- 00:26:17society there's humane society people
- 00:26:19that
- 00:26:19treat human like a real human with a
- 00:26:21respect with the dignity
- 00:26:23okay shouldn't i came to this country
- 00:26:27aboriginal people have never get
- 00:26:30what they call a dignity it's never been
- 00:26:32recognized that's one thing
- 00:26:34to put aside for me the jail that
- 00:26:37they're building
- 00:26:38i know they'll be putting more african
- 00:26:41in
- 00:26:41more sudanese in it i know that and of
- 00:26:44course
- 00:26:45talking about bella wood which is funded
- 00:26:47i
- 00:26:49a sierra leone man it's a surrendering
- 00:26:51man was murdered
- 00:26:52two years ago today i represented that
- 00:26:55man
- 00:26:55but i haven't been received i haven't
- 00:26:57been given a single page of paper
- 00:26:59just to say how did he die because of
- 00:27:02so-called
- 00:27:03is controlling that so if i don't know
- 00:27:06how these men die the family don't know
- 00:27:08how he died
- 00:27:10how would we ever know i was australian
- 00:27:12exactly how did these men die
- 00:27:14in general but we're never going to be
- 00:27:16told because it's
- 00:27:17run by so-called run by a billion dollar
- 00:27:21company they're doing that
- 00:27:22all i'm saying is
- 00:27:25if when a sudanese person is listening
- 00:27:28to this
- 00:27:30they should look at it carefully and
- 00:27:33said they should not let their child be
- 00:27:34in that prison
- 00:27:35they can find a way now aboriginal
- 00:27:39community should actually look at it and
- 00:27:41say that jail in grafton
- 00:27:43should not even start begin with it have
- 00:27:46to be sabotaged
- 00:27:47by any way they need to be sabotaged we
- 00:27:51we can go there and sit there when
- 00:27:52they're building it and let them
- 00:27:55hurt us with the greater if that that
- 00:27:57position they're going to be the case
- 00:27:58but it should not normal jail that we
- 00:28:01need more reform
- 00:28:02but yes if i have to sit in that place
- 00:28:04and they have to kill me
- 00:28:06so that the bill will jail yes i will do
- 00:28:08it so it's long way
- 00:28:10down the track but yes i will force that
- 00:28:13generally
- 00:28:14because unless they put their children
- 00:28:16in there
- 00:28:17but they never put their children in
- 00:28:18there they put other children in there
- 00:28:20and destroying youth is a problem
- 00:28:24youth shouldn't be going to jail no
- 00:28:26child should ever go to jail
- 00:28:27but those children there they have
- 00:28:29mothers and their parents
- 00:28:31i think their parents and their mothers
- 00:28:33and their and their general
- 00:28:34friends whether you're white or black
- 00:28:36they should go and sit in their jail and
- 00:28:38grab them that the government is
- 00:28:39building
- 00:28:40which should stop it by enemy let us go
- 00:28:43to jail maybe it would be good idea for
- 00:28:45us to be locked up in that place
- 00:28:47because enough is enough building jail
- 00:28:48forward we need to build society not
- 00:28:50cages
- 00:28:52and my view is yes justice reversement
- 00:28:55reinvestment is important
- 00:28:57it's important not taking money away
- 00:28:59from the police
- 00:29:00who need the police who who who need to
- 00:29:02please that
- 00:29:04that have people we don't need those
- 00:29:07people
- 00:29:07we need the proper police officers the
- 00:29:09one who understand the community
- 00:29:11so yes some of them have to lose their
- 00:29:13jobs
- 00:29:15and if you get to lose your job because
- 00:29:16you've done something wrong
- 00:29:18and then that's okay for me you didn't
- 00:29:20do anything right
- 00:29:21but yeah how can we move the community
- 00:29:23forward when we know the money is
- 00:29:25sitting there and you're going to be
- 00:29:26reinvested into
- 00:29:28a cages no i can't do that i will even
- 00:29:30refuse to pay tax at
- 00:29:32all if the jail is going to be funded
- 00:29:35for my money the money that i work hard
- 00:29:37for especially
- 00:29:39soon and his kid's going to go to jail
- 00:29:40no i refuse and i tell
- 00:29:43i'm going to say that i know we all
- 00:29:44should do it if that's the case is
- 00:29:46because your dollar should not be used
- 00:29:48to murder somebody else
- 00:29:50i'll just pick up on one point she made
- 00:29:52there which is important
- 00:29:54and that's about the need to find
- 00:29:57alternatives for young people so they
- 00:29:59don't end up in prison yeah i just
- 00:30:00wonder if you could share your thoughts
- 00:30:02from your work your experience about the
- 00:30:04sorts of strategies
- 00:30:05that do work that we should be using to
- 00:30:08ensure that young people don't end up in
- 00:30:10prison fair enough i
- 00:30:11i don't think they're the solution for
- 00:30:13youth in this country
- 00:30:15i know i can fix it i can fix the
- 00:30:17problem i don't need money to fix the
- 00:30:19problem with youth
- 00:30:21all i need is a consent from the
- 00:30:24government or their parent
- 00:30:26i can take them for a camping for a camp
- 00:30:28even indigenous boys that are not
- 00:30:30initiated because they're not men
- 00:30:32they're acting like boys they don't know
- 00:30:35responsibilities
- 00:30:36it's the reason why they do all kind of
- 00:30:38bad thing
- 00:30:39so is our sudanese and other african
- 00:30:42community
- 00:30:43give those responsibilities to me i
- 00:30:45don't need to be a lawyer
- 00:30:47i can be a better social worker unpaid i
- 00:30:49can do that job
- 00:30:50but these kids they don't have
- 00:30:54a guide the police is on their heels
- 00:30:5824 7 because they have to they are
- 00:31:00basically
- 00:31:02what do i say lost children if you're a
- 00:31:04lost child
- 00:31:05like me when i was a kid didn't know
- 00:31:06what to do why does a man with a gun
- 00:31:08have to follow me
- 00:31:10around to lock me up because i did
- 00:31:12something
- 00:31:13silly why do i have to be i
- 00:31:16have to be so important when i'm
- 00:31:18actually a silly kid
- 00:31:20acting something doing something so
- 00:31:22silly that i can be slapping my finger
- 00:31:24but no our kids go to jail for basically
- 00:31:27swearing out the police
- 00:31:29i'm just telling you the truth i don't
- 00:31:30need to be in this country
- 00:31:32i said before there's no need of
- 00:31:34bringing
- 00:31:35refugees here to this country when you
- 00:31:38haven't solved the problem of these
- 00:31:40people
- 00:31:41especially the indigenous people if you
- 00:31:42haven't resolved that problem
- 00:31:44why bringing a man in here who who
- 00:31:46basically doesn't need it
- 00:31:47somebody else needed so that had to be
- 00:31:50the first step
- 00:31:50indigenous people children
- 00:31:54the first nation they have to be
- 00:31:56comfortable they want
- 00:31:58they're the one that need to welcome us
- 00:31:59here as refugee
- 00:32:02and if the world come out here we can
- 00:32:04then take on their culture learn the
- 00:32:06process
- 00:32:07but they have not given a chance to even
- 00:32:10to
- 00:32:10teach us who are they their language
- 00:32:12like today tony just told me
- 00:32:15you say you know you know in my language
- 00:32:16mean the same thing
- 00:32:18i could have learned more from him but i
- 00:32:19didn't have that opportunity to even sit
- 00:32:21with an elderly
- 00:32:23indigenous person in general so our kids
- 00:32:26they're just gonna be in the same boat
- 00:32:28in general enough is enough
- 00:32:30no mojo we are families
- 00:32:35and we can't take children away from
- 00:32:37their families enough is enough in my
- 00:32:39view
- 00:32:41tony you um were heavily involved as
- 00:32:45um in the dundale royal commission
- 00:32:48which put a spotlight on the treatment
- 00:32:51of indigenous young people
- 00:32:53and in a way revisited a lot of the
- 00:32:55issues that were looked at in the royal
- 00:32:56commission
- 00:32:57into aboriginal deaths in custody and i
- 00:33:00was wondering if you could share
- 00:33:01some of the reflections from that
- 00:33:03experience
- 00:33:05about your thoughts on how we could
- 00:33:08better deal with
- 00:33:09uh issues around indigenous youth and
- 00:33:12particularly alternatives to prison and
- 00:33:13the sorts of treatment
- 00:33:15we saw that led to that royal commission
- 00:33:18[Music]
- 00:33:21firstly one of the things that was
- 00:33:25very obvious to all that were involved
- 00:33:28in the
- 00:33:29northern territory royal commission into
- 00:33:32the protection and detention of children
- 00:33:34is that all around the northern
- 00:33:36territory
- 00:33:39elders parents communities
- 00:33:43were crying out for the opportunity to
- 00:33:47take care of their kids
- 00:33:49to be put in a position where they could
- 00:33:52provide better circumstances for their
- 00:33:54kids give them things to do
- 00:33:56teach them their their law and custom
- 00:34:01give them direction and
- 00:34:04they were very confident that if they
- 00:34:06were able to do that
- 00:34:09then um that would have a big effect on
- 00:34:12the
- 00:34:13uh number of kids who were
- 00:34:16having interactions with the police
- 00:34:20they told us that
- 00:34:23they had been able to do a lot of things
- 00:34:26through their community organizations
- 00:34:28but
- 00:34:29um after the the first the intervention
- 00:34:32in the northern territory and
- 00:34:34and then the defunding of aboriginal
- 00:34:37organizations and the
- 00:34:38funding of not other non-government
- 00:34:41organizations non-aboriginal
- 00:34:43non-government organizations to deliver
- 00:34:45services to their communities
- 00:34:48they lost the capacity to do that type
- 00:34:50of work
- 00:34:54we heard some evidence during that raw
- 00:34:56commission from
- 00:34:59from people here in sydney from shane
- 00:35:01phillips and
- 00:35:02superintendent luke freudenstein from
- 00:35:05the
- 00:35:06clean slate without prejudice program in
- 00:35:11redfern and they talked about the great
- 00:35:14success that they had
- 00:35:15had in bringing the community the
- 00:35:18aboriginal community and the police
- 00:35:20together so that they were operating
- 00:35:24as members of the same community
- 00:35:28participating in mentoring programs
- 00:35:30attending boxing sessions in the morning
- 00:35:33and and the dramatic effect that had on
- 00:35:36the
- 00:35:37the crime rate uh in that community
- 00:35:41um and one of the things that was
- 00:35:44obvious
- 00:35:44to me and to everybody involved in the
- 00:35:47northern territory i think is that
- 00:35:50that type of change to
- 00:35:53the way in which policing is undertaken
- 00:35:57needs to be driven from the top without
- 00:36:00the superintendent of that local area
- 00:36:03command
- 00:36:04saying to his officers particular
- 00:36:07behaviors were not going to be accepted
- 00:36:10that the things were going to be done
- 00:36:12differently that
- 00:36:13they were going to talk to um the
- 00:36:15members of their
- 00:36:16aboriginal torres strait islander
- 00:36:18community with us with respect
- 00:36:20and treat treat people humanely and and
- 00:36:23try and be
- 00:36:24part of the community without that being
- 00:36:27driven from the top
- 00:36:28there wasn't going to be any change and
- 00:36:31one of the real dilemmas in in the
- 00:36:33northern territory was how to convince
- 00:36:36those at the top that they really needed
- 00:36:38to drive that change
- 00:36:40they needed to drive it through the
- 00:36:41investment of funds and they needed to
- 00:36:43drive
- 00:36:44the change of culture which was
- 00:36:46necessary for
- 00:36:48um for equality to exist
- 00:36:51and for for racism to be
- 00:36:54defeated or at least
- 00:36:58suppressed but you know
- 00:37:02we would be in the hearing rooms at the
- 00:37:06in darwin and you could
- 00:37:1050 meters from where the hearings were
- 00:37:12hearing rooms were
- 00:37:13you could see an old aboriginal man
- 00:37:17having his sitting down under a tree
- 00:37:19having a quiet drink
- 00:37:20and the police would come along and pour
- 00:37:21his alcohol out and
- 00:37:23and make him leave the city
- 00:37:26but that afternoon or that evening you
- 00:37:30would see
- 00:37:31backpackers walking down the main street
- 00:37:34of
- 00:37:35down mitchell street in darwin drunk
- 00:37:38drinking on the streets carrying on
- 00:37:42being noisy and the police had waved to
- 00:37:44them there you go
- 00:37:46and and when the when the the racism
- 00:37:50is that deep and systemic where those
- 00:37:54two things can coexist
- 00:37:56it's there's not going to be any change
- 00:37:58unless the the
- 00:38:00those at the top are made accountable
- 00:38:03and
- 00:38:03and so you know um in new south wales
- 00:38:06you you would want
- 00:38:07that requirement that to be written into
- 00:38:12the police act so that one of the
- 00:38:14functions of the commissioner is to
- 00:38:15ensure
- 00:38:16that to the extent that racism exists
- 00:38:19within the new south wales police force
- 00:38:20all steps are taken to
- 00:38:22eradicate that racism it doesn't exist
- 00:38:25in in the legislation as it stands but
- 00:38:27that's
- 00:38:28that's how that's the level it needs to
- 00:38:29be done it
- 00:38:32so there's a lot of observations um
- 00:38:36you know i could speak about we we it
- 00:38:39was a
- 00:38:4012-month process but
- 00:38:46with a little bit of hindsight i think
- 00:38:47that's the most lasting
- 00:38:50observation i can make is that
- 00:38:53while there are there are hundreds and
- 00:38:57perhaps thousands of people who are
- 00:39:00invested in trying to
- 00:39:01reform the justice system to try and
- 00:39:05reduce the incarceration rates to
- 00:39:07protect people
- 00:39:09from brutality to ensure that
- 00:39:14the deaths are properly investigated
- 00:39:20we can we can work
- 00:39:23for another 10 years or in 20 or 30
- 00:39:26years
- 00:39:27but the change won't come unless there
- 00:39:29is some commitment to
- 00:39:31having a different society from at the
- 00:39:34top
- 00:39:36i'm really mindful that we're almost out
- 00:39:38of time so
- 00:39:40i actually just wondered i know this is
- 00:39:42a big question tony but you talk about
- 00:39:44the need to change
- 00:39:46society fundamentally and and deng
- 00:39:48spoken about that as well that there
- 00:39:50needs to be something that gives us
- 00:39:52as you said dang hope that we have to
- 00:39:54have something that will do that i just
- 00:39:56wonder i know you've thought really
- 00:39:57deeply
- 00:39:58about notions of treaty or treaties
- 00:40:02is that the sort of thing that we need
- 00:40:04and how would something like that
- 00:40:06help to make changes at sort of at
- 00:40:09fundamental issues like the criminal
- 00:40:12justice system issues we've been talking
- 00:40:14about today
- 00:40:16one of the deep uh problems that we have
- 00:40:22in australia is a almost a
- 00:40:25total absence of respect for
- 00:40:28uh for first nations people and our
- 00:40:31connection to our country
- 00:40:33and we saw that in the destruction of
- 00:40:36the jookin caves
- 00:40:38um with the in the pilbara by uh by rio
- 00:40:41tinto
- 00:40:42and we see that uh a time and time again
- 00:40:46um what aboriginal
- 00:40:49a lot of aboriginal and torres strait
- 00:40:51islander people are seeking is some
- 00:40:53level of
- 00:40:54empowerment and control over our own
- 00:40:57lives and
- 00:40:58i saw a study a number of years ago
- 00:41:00which
- 00:41:01talked about the mental health impact of
- 00:41:04long-term disempowerment
- 00:41:06and how once a person is is placed into
- 00:41:11had all their power stripped away from
- 00:41:12them that that that
- 00:41:15over time causes grave mental health
- 00:41:18issues and
- 00:41:19i i just have this uh sense that
- 00:41:23whilst treaties are not a an answer to
- 00:41:26all problems if we were
- 00:41:29given the respect to allow us to
- 00:41:32self-govern
- 00:41:34to allow us to make decisions about
- 00:41:37how our children are protected to allow
- 00:41:39us to make decisions about how our
- 00:41:41country is protected
- 00:41:43then i think that that would go a long
- 00:41:46way to changing the relationship
- 00:41:48um between us and the rest of australia
- 00:41:52so that rather than being seen as
- 00:41:55something that
- 00:41:56is something that is the other and that
- 00:41:58needs to the in
- 00:42:00that the everybody else needs to be
- 00:42:02protected from
- 00:42:04that we're a self-sufficient thriving
- 00:42:07entity on our own or entities on our own
- 00:42:10um
- 00:42:10big big subject i know how unfortunate
- 00:42:13that we're out of time because
- 00:42:15i guess that's exactly the sort of
- 00:42:16relationship you were talking about ding
- 00:42:18that you wanted to see
- 00:42:20so thank you both for your insights into
- 00:42:22what is actually
- 00:42:23not just a very topical issue but
- 00:42:24actually one that's
- 00:42:26i think takes a lot of emotion for for
- 00:42:29aboriginal
- 00:42:30people and for people of color to
- 00:42:32actually speak about we
- 00:42:34mentioned earlier that these aren't
- 00:42:35statistics to us it's a lived experience
- 00:42:38so
- 00:42:38i really want to thank you both for your
- 00:42:41wisdom around the issue and your
- 00:42:42generosity with sharing your thoughts
- 00:42:44with us
- 00:42:46i'd also like to thank luke pearson and
- 00:42:48james saunders and the team at
- 00:42:49indigenous ex who curated today and our
- 00:42:52hosts at the opera house for bringing
- 00:42:53this panel my guests have been
- 00:42:55tony mcavoy sc and deng thiak adort
- 00:43:16you
- Black Lives Matter
- Indigenous Rights
- Brutalidad Policial
- Racismo Institucional
- Reformas Judiciales
- Sobreincarceración
- Reinversión en Justicia
- Desfinanciamiento de la Policía
- Derechos Humanos
- Comunidad Indígena