Warlpiri woman and NITV journalist, Rachael Hocking with Gomeroi Yinaar activist and educator, Gwenda Stanley, at yesterday’s Invasion Day rally, Gadigal.
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Invasion Day 2021, Djarrbarrgalli, Gadigal Country,
Images from today’s Invasion Day Rally, at Djarrbarrgalli, Gadigal Country.
In stifling conditions, the rally drew an estimated 5,000-10,000 people. Despite COVID-safety measures in place, a heavy police presence was on hand. The planned march through the CBD was called off after threats from authorities to enforce public health orders, including arrest and fines.
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VIGIL - Sydney Festival
Photographs from last night’s ‘Vigil’ as part of Sydney Festival. The event celebrates the survival, resilience and richness of Aboriginal culture, despite the arrival of British colonisers 233 years ago.
The event was the last of Wesley Enoch’s 5 year tenure as director of Sydney Festival and was hosted by Karla Grant.
Performers, in order of appearance, included:
Matthew Doyle & Dancers & Jannawi
Yvonne Weldon (Welcome to Country)
Bangarra Dance Theatre with Dean Widders and others including Adam Goodes and Stan Grant
Luke Currie-Richardson
Emma Donovan
Rayma Johnson, Andrea Adidi and Henrietta Baird
The Coolamon Dancers
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NSW Police Officer with Thin Blue Line Insignia
A NSW police officer was today photographed openly wearing a ‘Thin Blue Line’ insignia outside the Sydney Cricket Ground as the First Test Match between India and Australia was about to begin, and as riots on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. rocked the world.
The Thin Blue Line symbol has its origins in the USA and has been co-opted by Trump supporters and far-right extremists both in the USA and Australia. It has been debated as to whether the Thin Blue Line represents a white supremacist ideology, or just a symbol of support for police.
In Queensland, a police officer was also photographed wearing a US version of the Thin Blue Line on his uniform during a Black Lives Matter protest in September last year, while there have been allegations that a police officer in Sydney flashed a far-right gesture at another protest in June. In Victoria, there have also been instances of police displaying far-right imagery and symbols, amongst concerns the force has a far-right problem within its ranks.
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Djiriba Waagura - Welcome to Country
Djiriba Waagura (‘Two Crows’) perform a Welcome to Country ceremony at Bundanon on Yuin country on the NSW south coast.
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Helensburgh Little Dam Jumpers
Teenaged boys take a break from school over the summer holidays at what they call ‘Little Dam’, Helensburgh, just south of Sydney.
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Vale Jonny Lewis
Jonny Lewis, one of Australia’s foremost photographers, passed away on Sunday, aged 70.
This shot of Jonny was taken at Redfern Park during a commemoration for Black Diggers on ANZAC Day, 2017.
Jonny was always encouraging to me - an observant, smart, empathetic, witty and highly skilled photographer. His work and memory lives on.
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Djiriba Waagura at Black Markets
Djiriba Waagura dance group perform at Blak Markets on Bare Island, La Parouse, Bidjigal country.
Shot on a Leica M6TTL, Kodak, Tri-X, black and white 35mm film.
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Tribute to Aunty Bowie Hickey
Bowie Hickey, Gamilaroi matriarch, grandmother, mother, aunty and activist, has passed on.
Pictured here speaking at the Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy at The Block in 2015 (with the late Ray Jackson, far right).
Vale.
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^Permission by Aunt Bowie’s family was given to post this image.
Gamil Means No: Rally Against Santos Gas Mines On Gomeroi Land
Around 200 people gathered yesterday at Sydney’s Martin Place, Gadigal, to protest against the drilling of up to 850 coal seam gas wells in the Pilliga forest on Gomeroi-Gamilaraay land in north-western New South Wales.
The wells will be drilled directly above the Great Artesian Basin, the largest artesian basin in the world and the largest fresh water supply in Australia.
The massive gas project was recently approved by the Federal Government and will be drilled by gas giant, Santos.
Traditional owners, the Gomeroi-Gamilaraay people, oppose the project, fearing cultural and environmental devastation, the destruction of sacred sites and the poisoning of the water table. Environmentalists and farmers also have grave concerns for the impact of the gas field.
Yesterday’s rally marched through the city to Sydney Town Hall where speeches were made. The protest was organised by Gamilaraay Next Generation and was part of a nationwide action, ‘Gamil Means No’.
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TJ Hickey e-Petition to Launch
Gail Hickey and her grandson, TJ (jnr), stand at the site in Redfern-Waterloo where Gail’s son, TJ (snr), was killed during a police pursuit in 2004.
These photographs were taken ahead of a new e-petition to be launched demanding a parliamentary inquiry into TJ Hickey’s death, after a previous petition failed to gain parliamentary support earlier this year.
Gail Hickey and her family gathered at the Waterloo Housing Estate on Saturday to mark the launch of the new petition, again demanding justice for TJ, more than 16 years after his death.
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Pronoun: They/Them
Portrait of a protester at yesterday’s Trans rights rally.
Their preferred pronoun: They/Them.
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Kill The Bill - Trans Rights Rally
Photographs from yesterday’s ‘Kill The Bill’ Trans rights rally protesting the Education Legislation Amendment (Parental Rights) Bill 2020, which aims to ban the recognition of trans and gender diverse people in NSW schools. This bill was put forward to parliament by One Nation’s Mark Latham. Protesters, numbering around 200-300, called for the immediate dumping of the legislation.
The rally began with speeches at Taylor Square, then marched down Oxford Street and to Hyde Park, where a small Pro-Trump demonstration was being held by a Chinese-speaking contingent. Fearing a confrontation, police broke up the Pro-Trump demonstrators before the Trans rights rally dispersed under 40 degree heat.
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One Year of Protesting for Julian Assange at Sydney Town Hall
Images from yesterday’s rally demanding the release of Julian Assange.
The protest marked 1 year of regular rallies at Sydney Town Hall since Assange was forcibly removed from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London by British authorities and tried for extradition to the USA on espionage charges. If found guilty, that could lead to 175 years imprisonment for the man that headed WikiLeaks, which uncovered evidence of torture and war crimes by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Assange will hear the outcome of his trial on January the 4th next year.
The key speaker at yesterday’s rally was John Shipton, Assange’s father, who has tirelessly campaigned for his son’s release.
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Portrait of Julian Assange's Father, John Shipton
Portrait of Julian Assange’s father, John Shipton, who has been tirelessly campaigning for the release of his son from custody as he awaits the outcome of his hearing into his extradition to the United States, where he faces a maximum sentence of 175 years for espionage, if convicted. He spent 7 years holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in an attempt to avoid extradition before being forcibly removed and arrested by British authorities.
Julian Assange has been the target of US and UK intelligence agencies since his WikiLeaks revealed evidence of torture and war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Australia has only just announced an investigation into its possible war crimes in Afghanistan. The war in Afghanistan is Australia's longest, spanning 19 years and counting.
Assange is currently in lockdown in London’s Belmarsh prison, where an outbreak of COVID-19 was recently detected in his cell block.
Yesterday marked one year of regular protests at Sydney’s Town Hall, calling for the release of Assange. Around 50 protesters turned up to hear John Shipton urge for greater efforts for the release of his son.
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Narrabri River Jumpers
Teenagers find some respite from the searing heat after school by jumping from a bridge into the Namoi River at Narrabri in north western NSW, on Gomeroi country.
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Stop The Cuts - Tertiary Education in Crisis
Photographs from yesterday’s dual rallies at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Sydney University, where staff and students protested against the latest cuts to working conditions, jobs and education across the tertiary sector.
Organised by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), the protest began at UTS before moving to Sydney Uni where focus was brought to bear on the gutting of the School of Medical Science in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The police presence was more subdued than in recent university protests where riot police and students clashed. Yesterday’s rally was the first police-sanctioned street march since draconian social gathering laws were introduced under the coronavirus.
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Gathering for Gomeroi 2020
Photographs from the ‘Gathering for Gomeroi 2020’ in Narrabri where Gomeroi clans met over the weekend to reconnect, ceremony, practice culture and discuss Santos’ plans to dig 850 coal seam gas wells in the Pilliga situated on Gomeroi lands and directly above the Great Artesian Basin, Australia's most important water table.
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Polly Cutmore
Portrait of Gomeroi woman, Polly Cutmore.
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Thunderstorm and Sunset Over Gomeroi
The sun sets over Gomeroi lands in north western NSW as a thunderstorm rolls in from the south.
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