Indigenous protest set for Queen's national day of mourning

Indigenous group warns it will hit the streets and PROTEST during Australia’s national day of mourning public holiday: ‘The Queen is dead, colonisation is alive’

Indigenous group to protest in Brisbane on national day of mourning for Queen
Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance will take to the streets on September 22
They will decry past atrocities and the impact of British colonisation in Australia
Queen Elizabeth died aged 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8
The Indigenous group argue the British monarchy represents a violent history
Full coverage: Click here to see all our coverage of the Queen’s passing

A protest for Indigenous people will be held on the National Day of Mourning for Queen Elizabeth II.

Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance, which has more than 60,000 Facebook followers, will take to Brisbane streets on September 22 to decry past atrocities and the impact of British colonisation in Australia.

‘This is a stance against the continued crimes committed against marginalised First Nations, black, brown and Asian communities. We do not support benefactors or Stolenwealth (sic) and demand justice, truth and accountability for all. Justice for all,’ the group wrote.

A protest for Indigenous people will be held on the National Day of Mourning for Queen Elizabeth II (pictured with King Charles III)

Queen Elizabeth died aged 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8.

While supporters have hailed her 70-year reign, some Indigenous leaders say the British monarchy represents a violent history.

Macquarie University academic and Wiradjuri woman Sandy O’Sullivan said they were subjected to racism for refusing to celebrate the Queen’s reign.

‘Along with many other Aboriginal people, I experienced a lot of racism and derision around raising the fact that we weren’t celebrating the reign of the previous monarch, Queen Elizabeth II,’ they told AAP.

‘For many it’s because during that reign there was little that she did to reset that relationship, to make reparations and to speak out.’

Macquarie University research fellow and Dharug community member, Jo Rey, questioned the monarchy’s future.

Pictured: Indigenous protesters march during a rally on April 10, 2021 in Sydney

‘While the Queen is dead, colonisation is alive and well, living in every bureaucracy. The fate of the monarchy is ephemeral. The fate of the planet is more important,’ Dr Rey said.

First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria co-chair Aunty Geraldine Atkinson, who is a Bangerang and Wiradjuri elder, described the proclamation ceremony for King Charles III in Edinburgh as tone deaf.

‘When our people are still dying behind bars due to unfair policies and the indifference of politicians who have ignored countless calls for reform, it’s hard to swallow millions of dollars being spent on this kind of pomp and ceremony,’ she said.

Macquarie University academic and Wiradjuri woman Sandy O’Sullivan said they were subjected to racism for refusing to celebrate the Queen’s reign. Pictured: Protesters in Brisbane, 2021

Yet some Aboriginal supporters of the Queen paid tribute, including former Indigenous Advisory Council chair Warren Mundine, who criticised the AFL’s scrapping of a planned minute’s silence during the AFLW’s Indigenous Round.

He also claimed colonisation should not be blamed for social and economic disparities.

‘Young Aboriginal people will be ruined by the mindset that every problem Aboriginal people suffer today … is explained by history’s wrongdoings and traumas of colonisation supposedly continuing through current generations,’ Mr Mundine wrote in an opinion piece for Sky News.

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