"Justice For George Floyd" and aboriginal cause, same fight Tens of thousands of Australians demonstrated Saturday across the country to denounce racial inequality, defying government orders and the new coronavirus pandemic. In Sydney, at least 20,000 people were estimated to have participated in the parade, which was initially banned and then authorized by the courts a few minutes before it started.
"The fact that they tried to stop us from parading makes people want to do it even more," said Jumikah Donovan, among the crowd in Sydney. Prime Minister Scott Morrison asked the protesters to stay home on Friday because of the health crisis: "Let's find a better way to express these emotions, without endangering our own health."
#BlackLivesMatter protests took place across Australia on Saturday to honor George Floyd and to mourn Indigenous deaths in custody.
Here's what protesters had to say pic.twitter.com/o9VeODdNFC
In Sydney, the parade remained peaceful but at nightfall a tense face-to-face confronted the police with a few hundred demonstrators, finally repulsed in a station where they were dispersed with pepper spray. Three people were arrested, police said. During the demonstrations, many wore protective masks and tried to respect physical distances as best they could. In Melbourne in particular, they had been warned that they risked fines if they did not comply with the distancing measures.
"Let us treat this as Australians and without taking ownership of what is happening in other countries"
Protesters held up banners proclaiming "I can't breathe anymore", in reference to George Floyd, a 46-year-old black American asphyxiated by a white police officer in Minneapolis whose death sparked a historic protest that spilled across borders his country. In Australia, it arouses a particular echo because of the racist heritage which marks the history of the country. Organizers of the protests said they also wanted to denounce the very high rate of imprisonment among Aborigines and the deaths in detention of members of this community - more than 400 in the past 30 years. No prosecution has been initiated despite dozens of investigations and videos.
While recognizing that more should be done on the question of the Aborigines, the Prime Minister had rejected Friday any parallel with racial inequalities in the United States. "Let us treat this as Australians and without taking ownership of what is happening in other countries," he said.