Global Action For Myanmar Spring Revolution - Rally

While the media spotlight here in Australia has moved away from February’s military coup in Myanmar, the Burmese community here in Sydney are still gathering, as they did on Saturday, to bring attention to the ongoing self-installed dictatorship. About 150 expats and supporters turned up to Hyde Park North to hear speeches and observe a minute’s silence for the hundreds that have been killed since the coup, and the thousands that have been ‘disappeared’.

Australian companies are still involved in business dealings in Myanmar, despite calls to divest.

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Stop Aboriginal Deaths In Custody - Eddie Murray 40 Years On

Yesterday, approximately 200 people turned up to Sydney Town Hall, Gadigal, to commemorate 40 years since the death in custody of Gomeroi man, Eddie Murray, 21, at the Wee Waa police station in 1981.

The gathering heard impassioned speeches from family members and others, who demanded justice and a re-opening of the investigation into Murray’s death, as well as discussion on the broader issues of Aboriginal rights, policing and sovereignty.

Also present were family members of: Lloyd Boney, whose death in police custody in Brewarrina in 1987 was instrumental in triggering the 1990 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody; Eddie Russell, who was found dead, apparently hanged, in his cell at the end of a seven-year prison sentence; Kingsley Dixon, whose death in an Adelaide jail was also the subject of the Royal Commission; and T.J. Hickey, who died during a police pursuit in Waterloo-Redfern.

The crowd marched from Town Hall to the office of the NSW Attorney General at Martin Place.

The rally came a day after the announcement that the family of David Dungay Junior, another Aboriginal man who was killed in custody, would take their case to the United Nations.

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Gadigal to Gaza - Rally

Around 1,000 people turned up to Town Hall today to bring attention to the plights of Aboriginal peoples and Palestinians, who face colonialism and repression in their respective homelands, from Gadigal to Gaza and beyond.

Speakers claimed it was the first solidarity rally of its kind.

This photographer was only able to stay and document the first hour of speeches and performance. The rally later moved from Town Hall to Belmore Park.

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Free Palestine Rally - Town Hall

Photographs of the third successive weekend ‘Free Palestine’ rally from yesterday at Sydney’s Town Hall, Gadigal country.

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Vigil for Palestine - Lakemba

A small but passionate group turned up, yesterday, to host a vigil for Palestine at Boulevard Reserve in Lakemba in Sydney’s south-west.

A tense cease-fire is currently holding in the Middle East after more than a week of violence that saw more than 200 Palestinians killed, including 65 children. 12 people were killed on the Israeli side.

The vigil comes after two large protests in Sydney in the previous weekends. Yesterday’s ceremony was followed by attendees of the vigil handing out leaflets to the public, advertising this Sunday’s rally for Palestine at Sydney Town Hall. A large crowd is expected.

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Free Palestine Rally

Yesterday’s ‘Free Palestine’ protest in Sydney, Gadigal, attracted around 10,000 people. The rally started at Hyde Park North, where speeches were made, followed by a theatre performance replicating the bombing of Gaza. Protesters then moved down Elizabeth Street to Belmore Park, where more speeches were made.

In the Middle East, a ceasefire was earlier this week agreed to by Hamas and Israel, which has halted the recent violence, despite a raid on the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem by Israeli police.

Sources say 232 Palestinians have been killed in the last 11 days, including 65 children, while 12 people have been killed on the Israeli side.

As of the posting of this entry, the cease fire was still holding.

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School Strike 4 Climate Action Rally

Despite rain, a large crowd of about 10,000-15,000 turned up to yesterday’s climate rally, organised and led mostly by school students.

The main focus of the rally was opposition to the Federal Government’s so-called ‘gas-led recovery’.

First Nations speakers spoke out against the desecration of their traditional lands, as a result of extractive industries, particularly the proposed Santos gas fields in the Pilliga on Gomeroi lands in Northern NSW.

Protesters marched from Sydney Town Hall to Prince Alfred Park.

It was the first School Strike 4 Climate rally held since the onset of the pandemic.

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Al Nakbar - 73 Years On

Yesterday, around 10,000 people turned up at Sydney Town Hall, Gadigal, to commemorate Al Nakbar and to protest the escalating violence in Israel/Palestine.

Al Nakbar, or ‘The Catastrophe’, is held every 15th of May and marks the date of the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, and the resulting removal of Palestinian homelands. It has led to displacement of millions of Palestinians and numerous wars, including the Intifada, or ‘uprising’.

Last week, during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa mosque, firing tear gas and injuring hundreds, after a recent spate of Palestinian home acquisitions by Israeli settlers. Hamas responded by firing rockets into Israel from Gaza, killing up to nine people. Israeli Defence Forces retaliated with airstrikes and ground troops. The Palestinian death toll is spiralling into the hundreds. Yesterday, eight Palestinian children – all cousins – were killed in Israeli airstrikes.

An election has just been held in Israel, resulting in a deadlock. The former Prime Minister, Netanyahu, is currently trying  to cling to power.

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Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody - 30 Years On

Images from yesterday's “30 Years Still No Justice, Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody” events: a discussion and forum at the University of Technology Sydney facilitated by Jumbunna House, and a rally at Railway Square.

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30 Years On: Aboriginal Deaths In Custody Report

Up to 3,000 people turned up at Sydney Town Hall, Gadigal, to protest against ongoing Aboriginal deaths in custody, which currently stands at at least 474 since the report of the Royal Commission was handed down 30 years ago.

There have been 5 deaths in the last month.

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Vision 2020, Head On Festival, Selection - Ramadan Online

Honoured to have my image, Ramadan Online, selected as a part of the Vision 2020 Exhibition as part of the Head On Photo Festival. The exhibition will travel regionally, launching at the Southern Highlands Artisans Collective (The SHAC) on the 1st of May 2021 and finishing up in Sydney at the Head On Festival in November.

Photo description:

Imam Enes Özkan, from the Auburn Gallipoli Mosque, livestreams verses from the Quran over Facebook during last year’s Ramadan, which coincided with special COVID-19 health orders that shut down all places of worship across Sydney. It was the first time in the mosque’s history that no in-person services were provided during Ramadan.

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Selection as a Finalist for the National Photographic Portrait Prize

Really humbled to have had one of my photos selected as a finalist for the National Photographic Portrait Prize, here in Australia.

My image, which is embargoed until the exhibition’s launch, will show along side 80 other amazing photographs at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra from the 30th of July until November 2021.

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Candlelight Vigil for Burmese Protestors Killed and Detained

This evening, thousands of Sydney’s Burmese community turned out at Sydney Town Hall for a candlelight vigil for the nearly 350 people that have been killed so far during recent protests against the military junta’s coup in Myanmar last month.

Dozens were killed earlier today, a date marking Armed Forces Day in Myanmar, making it the deadliest day since the February 1 coup. According to protestors, an additional 2,000 people have been arbitrarily detained, including leader Aung San Suu Kyi, while 5,000 others have been ‘disappeared’.

Speakers at today’s vigil in Sydney called for greater action by the Australian Government to pressure the junta, such as imposing tougher sanctions, and for Australian corporations and mining companies to divest from the country and cut ties with the Burmese military regime altogether.

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Myanmar Protest Against the Military Coup

A small but passionate group of about 100 people turned up at Martin place today to demand a halt to the military coup in Myanmar and an immediate stop to all violence directed towards the democratic movement currently resisting the military dictatorship.

Today’s rally was led by minority ethic groups within Myanmar, the Arakanese (Rakine State) and the Kachin. There are 135 distinct ethnic groups in Myanmar. Some want independence from Myanmar, while others want to form a democratic federation. With ongoing violence by the junta continuing, some ethnic armies, such as the Shan armed faction, are threatening to involve themselves to defend the democratic movement. Hundreds have been killed in protests in the last weeks.

Today’s rally in Sydney was held on Myanmar’s Armed Forces Day, a day in which military leaders defended the coup.

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Delivery Riders Strike

Today, delivery riders from Deliveroo gathered at Circular Quay in front of the Sydney Opera House to join in on an international strike to demand better pay and conditions, ahead of the UK food delivery giant listing on the London stock exchange.

In Australia, the Transport Workers Union are supporting riders, many who are earning less than the minimum wage, working under dangerous conditions and with few rights, as forced contractors rather than regular employees. Several delivery drivers have been killed on the roads in recent months, with mounting pressure on reaching delivery quotas..

COVID-19 has seen a dramatic increase in insecure work and worker exploitation across the country and some of the most vulnerable are those working in the so-called ‘gig economy’, such as food delivery riders, most of whom earn only $10 per hour. Many riders are from migrant communities, desperate for work and without social security, some stuck in Australia unable to return home because of the shut down of international flights due to the pandemic.

Thousands of Deliveroo riders went on strike across the world today, including in Australia, the UK, Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, France and Italy.

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March4Justice Rally

Tens of thousands of people turned out today, Monday lunchtime, at Sydney Town Hall, Gadigal land, to protest against sexual violence, rape and misogyny.

Similar ‘March4Justice’ campaigns unfolded across the country today, as outrage grew against continuing gendered violence, including the recent sexual assault allegations in Canberra’s Parliament House.

The Sydney protest marched through the city, ending with more speeches outside the NSW state Parliament House.

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Youth Survivors Speak Out - Stop Sexual Assault

In light of the ongoing sexual assault scandals which have rocked federal Parliament, around 150 mostly young people turned out to Sydney Town Hall this afternoon to demand an end to misogyny, sexual assault and rape.

The speakers, some of whom were high school students, told harrowing stories of sexual assault and called for the sacking of current Attorney General, Christian Porter, who is embroiled in accusations that he raped a 16 year old woman in 1988, Defence Minister, Linda Reynolds, whose handling of an alleged rape in her office has been widely condemned, and the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, who has overseen the response to these scandals.

The protesters marched from Town Hall to the Liberal Party headquarters on William Street.

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Sydney Mardi Gras 2021 - Take Over Oxford Street

Around 3,000 people turned up at Oxford Street today for a counter-corporate Mardi Gras and to march for LGBTQIA+ rights.

The annual Sydney Mardi Gras traditionally marches up Oxford Street but this year, because of COVID-19 concerns, it was held at a ticketed event at the Sydney Cricket Ground. There has been a groundswell of discontent in recent times about the increasing corporatisation of Mardi Gras, which had its origin in 1978 as a community protest against police brutality against gays and lesbians. Since then, it has grown into a multi-million dollar event with sponsorship from big business and mainstream political parties.

Today’s protest followed the route of the original 1978 march, from Taylor Square, down Oxford Street, to Hyde Park and brought to light LGBTQIA+ rights, Aboriginal deaths in custody, black lives matter, and refugee issues. It also demanded the abolition of discriminatory state government legislation brought on by One Nation’s Mark Latham. The march was given a late exemption yesterday to COVID-19 related health orders by the courts. A large police presence was in force throughout the day.

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17 YEARS, NO JUSTICE: THE TJ HICKEY CAMPAIGN

Protest of the 17th anniversary of TJ Hickey’s death at the Waterloo flats where he was killed during a police pursuit in 2004.

About 200 people attended the rally which began at the incident site of TJ’s death, and marched to Prince Alfred Park, led by TJ’s mother, Gail, and her family.

A heavy police presence was in attendance, as there has been every year for the last 17 years during these annual rallies.

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Grandmothers Against Removal (GMAR) Rally

Photographs of today’s Grandmothers Against Removal (GMAR) rally at Hyde Park.

GMAR is a self-organised group of Aboriginal grandmothers and mothers who advocate against the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families by government departments.

Since Prime Minister Rudd’s apology for the so-called ‘Stolen Generation’ in 2008, there have been claims of a 400% increase in removal of Aboriginal children from their families. GMAR assert that the Stolen Generation has never ceased and that it continues today.

Of specific focus today, was the case of an Aboriginal mother whose children were removed to a foster home and then taken to the UK last year, where the (English) foster family now intends to once again reside. GMAR are calling for the return of the children to Australia and ultimately back to their mother.

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