Free Palestine Rally - Week 22

Photographs of last Sunday’s 22nd consecutive weekly Free Palestine rally in Hyde Park, Sydney, Gadigal Land.

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Mardi Gras - First Nations

Photographs featuring some of the First Nations representations at last Saturday’s Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, on Gadigal Land.

The parade featured an appearance by Robert Cole, dressed like his now-deceased twin brother, Malcolm, in his famous 1995 Black Captain Cook outfit.

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Mardi Gras - Pride In Protest

Photographs from last Saturday’s Pride In Protest float at the Sydney Mardi Gras.

Pride In Protest sought to bring focus back to the activist roots of the Mardi Gras, demanding an end to police participation in the parade in the wake of the alleged murder by Jesse Baird and Luke Davis by a NSW police officer. They also brought attention to the war in Palestine, calling for a an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The day started with a speak-out at Sydney Town Hall, before moving to Hyde Park for preparations for the parade, then finally down Oxford Street, in front of an estimated 200,000 people.

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Queers In Solidarity With Palestine Storm Mardi Gras

A group of ‘Queers In Solidarity With Palestine’ jumped barriers, lit coloured smoke effects and raised banners to interrupt the Labor Party float at last Saturday night’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Police quickly arrested the protesters and dragged them off the parade route. They were later charged with ‘use violence to cause fear’.

The NSW Premier, Chris Minns was escorted off the route by police immediately after the arrests.

‘Queers In Solidarity With Palestine’ are calling for an end to the war in Gaza and the West Bank.

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Protest Against Police Violence Against the LGBTQIA+ Community

On Friday evening, around 300 people turned up to Taylor Square to protest against police violence against the LGBTQIA+ community. After protesters occupied the intersection on Oxford Street, police and the riot squad moved in to forcibly remove them. The rally then marched to Surry Hills police station, where speeches were made calling for the police to be defunded.

The rally came in the wake of the murders of Luke Davies and Jess Baird, allegedly by a serving police officer, and after a report was handed down into gay hate crimes from the 1970s to 2010, which found that NSW police failed in their due diligence to investigate a series of these deaths.

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Police Violence Breaks out at Protest

Police violence broke out last night as the LGBTQIA+ community protested against the police and the recent alleged murder of Luke Davies and Jesse Baird by a police officer.

Around 200 people turned up last night at Taylor Square in Darlinghurst, Gadigal land, occupying the street intersection before police moved in.

More photos to come.

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Vigil for Luke Davies and Jesse Baird

Friends, family and community members came together yesterday evening to remember the lives of Luke Davies and Jesse Baird, who were allegedly brutally murdered by a serving police officer.

Around two thousand people turned up at Green Park in Darlinghurst, gathering in what was a solemn occasion, on the eve of Mardi Gras.

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School Strike For Palestine Rally

Yesterday, several hundred school and university students went on strike to protest against the war in Palestine.

University students marched from Sydney Uni, past UTS and then to Town Hall to meet up with high schoolers. Speeches were made by a variety of students, as well as by academics and educators.

The protest then moved to Trades Hall on Sussex Street, the headquarters of the incumbent Labor Party, where further speeches were made - amongst much jeering - urging the ALP to do more to support a ceasefire and to stop military trade with Israel.

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Free Palestine Rally - Week 20

Week 20 of the ‘Free Palestine’ rallies in Sydney, Gadigal Land.

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No Pinkwashing Genocide QTOPIA Protest

Yesterday, a small but passionate group turned up to Taylor Square in Darlinghurst, on Gadigal Land, to protest at the opening of QTOPIA, a LGBTQIA+ museum based at the former police station where participants of the original 1978 ‘Mardi Gras’ protest were arrested and bashed by police.

The museum is partially funded by the Murdochs, who the protesters at yesterday’s event say have demonised the LGBTQIA+ community for decades through their media empire. Also present at the launch of Qtopia was Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Premier Chris Minns, ABC Chair Ita Buttrose, and Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch. Speakers at the rally, including original ‘78-ers, accused these dignitaries of ‘pinkwashing’ over LGBTQIA+ issues, and of supporting the war in Gaza. Some speakers claimed they were banned from attending the launch because of their support for Palestine.

The protest was kept well away from Qtopia by a large police and security presence, despite an offical Form 1 approval to hold the protest outside the museum.

After speeches, protesters moved from Taylor Square to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Holocaust memorial at Green Park on Darlinghurst Road.

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Property Is Theft

Locks containing keys to Air BnB apartments in Potts Point, during a time of soaring rents and homelessness.

Shot on a Leica M6TTL with black and white Kodak Tri-X 35mm film.

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Palestine Sit-In at the Offices of PM Albanese

Protestors have been battling rain and heat for the last week during what is a round-the-clock vigil and sit-in outside the electoral offices of Prime Minister Albanese in Marrickville, Gadigal Land.

Protestors are demanding that Australia cease any support of Israel in its war on Palestine, reinstate UNRWA funding and does more to support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The sit-in has been a weekly protest for the last 16 weeks, becoming an indefinite 24-7 affair a week ago. On Sunday, the picket marked 4 months of protest with a live stream and a special song to highlight the impending Israeli ground assault on the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza.

Organisers of the sit-in are vowing to stay until the war ends.

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Mardi Gras Street Rally

On Sunday, around 200 people gathered at Pride Square in Newtown, Sydney, Gadigal Land to rally for LGBTQIA+ rights and to mark the first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, which was a political protest held in 1978. Speakers at the rally called for the passing of ‘Self-ID’ legislation in NSW, which would allow for trans and gender diverse people to self-nominate their legal gender. Solidarity with Palestine was also expressed by those present, as the war on Gaza continues.

Amongst a strong police presence, the rally then marched down King Street, through Newtown, to Hollis Park.

The protest was organised by Pride in Protest and the USYD Queer Action Collective.

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Free Palestine Rally - Week 19

Photographs from yesterday’s 19th consecutive weekly ‘Free Palestine’ rally in Sydney, Gadigal land.

It came as Israel’s imminent ground assault on the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza is condemned by world leaders, who are warning that such an attack would result in massive civilian deaths and casualties.

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Stepping Stones

Stepping Stones.

Shot on a Leica M6TTL with black and white Kodak Tri-X 35mm film.

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TJ Hickey Rally - 20 Years On

Photographs from yesterday’s rally, marking the 20th anniversary of T.J. Hickey’s death. Seventeen year-old TJ was killed in 2004 when he was impaled on a fence after coming off his bicycle during a police pursuit. The family insist there was a cover-up of the incident.

Wednesday’s rally began at Waterloo Green, the site of TJ’s death, before TJ’s mother, Gail led a march to The Block in Redfern. The family are still seeking justice, 20 years on.

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Free Palestine Rally - Week 18

Photographs from last Sunday’s Free Palestine Rally at Hyde Park in Sydney, Gadigal Land, the 18th consecutive week that such rallies have been held.

The protest came as Israel prepares for a ground assault on Rafah, where one million Palestinians have fled to, after intense Israel bombing of the north of Gaza. There are fears of a massive loss of life if the assault continues.

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Unfinished Business at the Embassy

Portraits at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, currently set up at Victoria Park in Glebe, Sydney, Gadigal country.

Members of the Embassy are campaigning to have the park renamed ‘Isabel Coe Memorial Park’, in memory of Wiradjuri Aboriginal rights activist, Aunty Isabel Coe, who set up the Embassy there in 2000, during the lead up to the Sydney Olympics, to draw international attention to the the plight of First Nations peoples across Australia.

These portraits are of Embassy members, Jessica Savage, Gwenda Stanley, and daughter of Isabel Coe, Nioka Coe.

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Lotus Flower

Shot on a Leica M6TTL with black and white Kodak Tri-X 35mm film.

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