WEBVTT - Islands of Injustice

0:00:01.240 --> 0:00:05.560
<v Speaker 1>Good. Just before nine o'clock last night, the jury returned

0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:08.480
<v Speaker 1>guilty verdicts against all three defendants.

0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:11.119
<v Speaker 2>It was absolutely shambles, to tell you the truth, just

0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:12.200
<v Speaker 2>absolutely really coming.

0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:14.680
<v Speaker 1>Blood on his clothing the day after the alleged a

0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:16.600
<v Speaker 1>top on a shallow mud bank and it fits through

0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:16.960
<v Speaker 1>a river.

0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:19.119
<v Speaker 2>Basically, I think most of the people are used to

0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:20.600
<v Speaker 2>me are good people.

0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:23.280
<v Speaker 1>I think a really important question we need to ask

0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:26.360
<v Speaker 1>is how many Indigenous prisoners in Australia are innocent.

0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:29.880
<v Speaker 2>This is Curtain, a podcast where we pull back the

0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:32.440
<v Speaker 2>blinds to shine a light on the darkest parts of

0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:35.400
<v Speaker 2>our justice system and ask who are the victims.

0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:41.080
<v Speaker 1>I'm Amy Maguire and I'm Martin Hodgson, a senior advocate

0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:44.960
<v Speaker 1>for the Foreign Prisoner Support Service. And a warning this

0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:48.920
<v Speaker 1>series contains the names of deceased peoples and has distressing

0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:51.680
<v Speaker 1>content that might upset some listeners.

0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:59.200
<v Speaker 2>Welcome to episode forty five of Curtain the podcast. As

0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:02.360
<v Speaker 2>most of our lists will be aware, the state of

0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:06.399
<v Speaker 2>Queensland recently had an election and a new government has

0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:10.280
<v Speaker 2>only just been announced. We still don't know who the

0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:14.720
<v Speaker 2>new Attorney General will be and it could remain the same.

0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:19.080
<v Speaker 2>So for Kevin Henry's sake. What we're asking is that

0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:22.920
<v Speaker 2>people write to the Attorney General and the Premiere of

0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:28.920
<v Speaker 2>Queensland and asked that both the pardon process and the

0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:33.720
<v Speaker 2>parole process be sped up. As you can imagine, during

0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:38.399
<v Speaker 2>the campaign, issues of paroles and pardons were put to

0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.319
<v Speaker 2>the sideline. So that's why we haven't had a lot

0:01:41.360 --> 0:01:46.120
<v Speaker 2>to mention over the last few weeks. When an election

0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:49.720
<v Speaker 2>is called, a government goes into what's called a caretaker

0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:55.400
<v Speaker 2>role and no large decisions are made. So now before

0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:58.400
<v Speaker 2>Christmas is the time to step up the pressure on

0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:02.320
<v Speaker 2>the Queensland government and call for the immediate release of

0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:07.840
<v Speaker 2>Kevin Henry, and also that they continue looking at the

0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:11.840
<v Speaker 2>pardon process, analyzing all the evidence that's been sent to

0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:15.239
<v Speaker 2>the Governor, and that the new Parole Board does their

0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:19.280
<v Speaker 2>job not only for Kevin Henry, but for all prisoners

0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:24.880
<v Speaker 2>in Queensland seeking parole, and especially those who continue to

0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:29.760
<v Speaker 2>maintain their innocence like Kevin Henry. Will update you as

0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:34.240
<v Speaker 2>soon as we can with any new news. Today, December

0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:38.840
<v Speaker 2>tenth marks the beginning of a year long celebration of

0:02:38.919 --> 0:02:43.640
<v Speaker 2>the seventieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:48.720
<v Speaker 2>Today is Human Rights Day. But what does that really mean?

0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:53.160
<v Speaker 2>Most people tend to look at human rights in the

0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:57.480
<v Speaker 2>context of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the

0:02:57.680 --> 0:03:01.680
<v Speaker 2>United Nations, and it seems to be something far off

0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:06.360
<v Speaker 2>and far reaching that rarely impacts our daily lives or

0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:10.560
<v Speaker 2>helps us. It's as if people have looked to the

0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:14.240
<v Speaker 2>UN to solve all our problems, when that was never

0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:18.320
<v Speaker 2>the intention of the United Nations, and especially not the

0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:23.480
<v Speaker 2>Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I want to just briefly

0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:27.840
<v Speaker 2>read a quote from the chair of the drafting committee,

0:03:28.160 --> 0:03:31.080
<v Speaker 2>Missus Eleanor Roosevelt, and this is what she had to

0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:37.680
<v Speaker 2>say about universal human rights. Where, after all, do universal

0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:43.520
<v Speaker 2>human rights begin in small places close to home, so

0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:47.840
<v Speaker 2>close and so small that they cannot be seen on

0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:52.680
<v Speaker 2>any maps of the world. Unless these rights have meaning there,

0:03:53.400 --> 0:03:59.760
<v Speaker 2>they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to

0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.640
<v Speaker 2>our hold them close to home, we shall look in

0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:08.320
<v Speaker 2>vain for progress in the larger world. That was Eleanor Roosevelt.

0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:13.040
<v Speaker 2>So the question to ask yourselves is what are you

0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:18.600
<v Speaker 2>doing to uphold human rights close to home in those

0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:22.480
<v Speaker 2>small places that cannot be seen on world maps, Places

0:04:22.680 --> 0:04:30.080
<v Speaker 2>like Rockhampton, places like Warabinda and Palm Island and Broom

0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:36.280
<v Speaker 2>in Western Australia, and Alice Springs and Catherine and Calgooli

0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:40.800
<v Speaker 2>and right around this nation where human rights, particularly against

0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:46.680
<v Speaker 2>Aboriginal people continually continue to be infringed upon and breached,

0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:52.159
<v Speaker 2>often with the most deadly of consequences. This week we're

0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:59.160
<v Speaker 2>going to explore two issues. They are two cases involving

0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:05.320
<v Speaker 2>Indigenous community in the justice system that had ongoing updates,

0:05:05.640 --> 0:05:10.560
<v Speaker 2>large updates this week, and the broader issue of Indigenous

0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:15.040
<v Speaker 2>rights in Australia. This week, my co host Amy McGuire

0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.120
<v Speaker 2>is away on assignment and it does relate to these

0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:22.520
<v Speaker 2>issues more broadly, so I'll just be discussing these issues

0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:28.680
<v Speaker 2>this week. The first thing that happened this week was

0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:33.839
<v Speaker 2>the conviction of two men for the murder of Lynette Daily.

0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:40.200
<v Speaker 2>Adrian Atwater and Paul Maris were finally sentenced to prison.

0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:45.080
<v Speaker 2>Lynnette Daily sadly lost her life on Australia Day in

0:05:45.160 --> 0:05:49.960
<v Speaker 2>two thousand and eleven at the hands of two white men.

0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:57.039
<v Speaker 2>There is a great deal of irony and tragedy in

0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:01.279
<v Speaker 2>the fact that an Indigenous woman was brutally attacked and

0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:07.320
<v Speaker 2>raped on Invasion Day Australia day, and that she died

0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:11.880
<v Speaker 2>of this attack, and that justice has taken so long

0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:17.440
<v Speaker 2>to come fu Lynnette and her family. Multiple times, the

0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:22.440
<v Speaker 2>Department of Prosecution in New South Wales, despite large amounts

0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:27.159
<v Speaker 2>of evidence against these men, refused to charge them or

0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:35.480
<v Speaker 2>take any action whatsoever. An inquest into Lynnette's death also

0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:41.320
<v Speaker 2>recommended chargers, and once again the DPP did absolutely nothing.

0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:48.039
<v Speaker 2>It's hard to understand for those non indigenous listeners we

0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:51.480
<v Speaker 2>have right around Australia and the world, how this is possible,

0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:55.160
<v Speaker 2>how women could be raped and murdered, How there could

0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:58.520
<v Speaker 2>be so much evidence against two men, and yet the

0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:03.400
<v Speaker 2>Department of Public Prosecution, who is supposed to protect society,

0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:09.479
<v Speaker 2>refused on at least three occasions to charge these men,

0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:15.720
<v Speaker 2>let alone take them to trial. But finally, once this

0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:20.640
<v Speaker 2>did reach court, these men were found guilty because of

0:07:20.720 --> 0:07:24.880
<v Speaker 2>course they were guilty and they had committed this horrific crime.

0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:30.080
<v Speaker 2>I want to read some of the statements made by

0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:35.400
<v Speaker 2>Lynette's family, particularly those that come from her mother and

0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:40.680
<v Speaker 2>her stepfather, Gordon Davis. The family has battled ever since

0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:46.440
<v Speaker 2>Lynnette was tragically taken and if it wasn't for them

0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:51.440
<v Speaker 2>this outcome, this small piece of justice would never occurred.

0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:57.280
<v Speaker 2>And remember about how this continues to happen right around Australia.

0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:05.400
<v Speaker 2>That without communities suffering, family suffering for decades, generations begging

0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:09.480
<v Speaker 2>for justice, just the same justice that anyone else would get.

0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:14.360
<v Speaker 2>These events never come to see the light of day,

0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:17.440
<v Speaker 2>let alone the inside of a court room where finally

0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:21.480
<v Speaker 2>these two Nonindigenous men were found guilty of their crimes.

0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:24.560
<v Speaker 1>This is what.

0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:29.440
<v Speaker 2>Lynnette's stepfather, Gordon Davis had to say. Outside of court

0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:35.839
<v Speaker 2>There'll be no closure, but at least the court has ended.

0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:39.960
<v Speaker 2>We know where they are now, we know they won't

0:08:40.040 --> 0:08:44.440
<v Speaker 2>do it to anyone else. The DPP has a lot

0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:49.520
<v Speaker 2>to learn about aboriginality and Aboriginals. He said, you just

0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.680
<v Speaker 2>can't sweep everything under the carpet the way it was

0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:56.520
<v Speaker 2>dealt with. If it was two Aboriginal boys and they

0:08:56.520 --> 0:08:59.600
<v Speaker 2>had done that to a non Indigenous person, they would

0:08:59.640 --> 0:09:04.280
<v Speaker 2>have been jail ages ago. And that's the difference. I

0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:07.560
<v Speaker 2>don't care how you sugarcoat it. That is the difference.

0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:13.320
<v Speaker 2>And we completely agree with what mister Davis has said

0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:18.120
<v Speaker 2>in this issue, and of course our thoughts and condolences

0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:21.240
<v Speaker 2>are with the family as once more they're forced to

0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:26.000
<v Speaker 2>relive what happened to Lynnette, and once again we would

0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:29.840
<v Speaker 2>call on an investigation both into the Department of Public

0:09:29.880 --> 0:09:33.680
<v Speaker 2>Prosecution in New South Wales for taking so long to

0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:37.400
<v Speaker 2>bring this case to court, but also the police who

0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:41.880
<v Speaker 2>investigated this matter. Why did it take so long for

0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:45.360
<v Speaker 2>them to do anything? Why were they so cavalier in

0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:50.360
<v Speaker 2>their approach to Lynnette's death despite the horrific injuries she'd suffered.

0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:54.760
<v Speaker 2>Why did they treat these two men with kid gloves

0:09:54.840 --> 0:10:00.000
<v Speaker 2>and do absolutely nothing for so long. The other ish

0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:04.400
<v Speaker 2>due this week relates to the town of Bauerville and

0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:08.720
<v Speaker 2>the murder of the three children that has gone supposedly

0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:14.560
<v Speaker 2>unsolved for more than twenty five years. Once again, it's

0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:20.240
<v Speaker 2>been the families of the victims and the community in Bauerville,

0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:23.679
<v Speaker 2>the Aboriginal community who has kept this case going for

0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:28.840
<v Speaker 2>more than twenty five years, battling courts and politicians, police

0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:34.080
<v Speaker 2>and a sheer lack of justice for children murdered callously

0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:37.559
<v Speaker 2>and still no one is in prison as a result.

0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:41.800
<v Speaker 2>Over the past week, the New South Wales Court of

0:10:41.840 --> 0:10:45.880
<v Speaker 2>Criminal Appeal has heard evidence about a man suspected of

0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:50.400
<v Speaker 2>murdering two of the children. In fact, he's suspected of

0:10:50.600 --> 0:10:56.440
<v Speaker 2>murdering all three. As you probably know, all three went

0:10:56.559 --> 0:10:59.760
<v Speaker 2>missing from Bauerville in New South Wales over a five

0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:07.199
<v Speaker 2>month period in nineteen ninety and nineteen ninety one. Twice

0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:12.240
<v Speaker 2>this individual has been in court for these matters, but

0:11:13.400 --> 0:11:16.800
<v Speaker 2>in every time and in every way it's been mishandled.

0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:23.000
<v Speaker 2>What's been sought here is that fresh and compelling evidence

0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:27.640
<v Speaker 2>and in the interests of justice, should overturn those not

0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:32.360
<v Speaker 2>guilty verdicts and a retrial should be ordered and the

0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:38.040
<v Speaker 2>retroal should look at all three cases Colleen Walker, Evelyn

0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:44.120
<v Speaker 2>Greenup and Clinton Speedy Euro But just like in the

0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:48.720
<v Speaker 2>case of Kevin Henry, there's a problem, and the problem

0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:51.800
<v Speaker 2>is that because it has dragged on for so long,

0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:57.439
<v Speaker 2>the man who is under absolute suspicion in these cases,

0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:04.720
<v Speaker 2>his lawyer are saying, well, now witnesses accounts have been contaminated,

0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:10.240
<v Speaker 2>that many witnesses have passed away, and this is why

0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:14.120
<v Speaker 2>it shouldn't go to a retrial. This, like in the

0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:19.280
<v Speaker 2>case of Kevin Henry, is blatantly absurd. Just like Colleen,

0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:25.200
<v Speaker 2>Evelyn and Clinton, Linda and her family also deserve justice

0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:29.960
<v Speaker 2>because the police, politicians and prosecutors have bungled these cases

0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:34.360
<v Speaker 2>for so long and witnesses have passed away. Does not

0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:40.920
<v Speaker 2>mean that the real killer in the Bauerville murders should

0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:44.680
<v Speaker 2>get away scott free. It doesn't mean that Kevin Henry

0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:47.840
<v Speaker 2>should still be imprisoned for a crime he did not commit.

0:12:48.600 --> 0:12:54.240
<v Speaker 2>Aboriginal people cannot be continuing to face the consequences of injustice,

0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:59.280
<v Speaker 2>deep dark consequences, the loss of life and liberty the

0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:04.960
<v Speaker 2>greatest thing, justices that exist because others, particularly those in power,

0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:12.480
<v Speaker 2>government and police, make mistakes. So our thoughts are again

0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:16.400
<v Speaker 2>with the families of Bauerville and we hope that the

0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:20.800
<v Speaker 2>court does the right thing in ordering a retrial and

0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:25.800
<v Speaker 2>that this retrial can take place soon and the family

0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:29.720
<v Speaker 2>should not be forced to wait longer and suffer more

0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:33.599
<v Speaker 2>while they seek justice after more than a quarter of

0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:38.240
<v Speaker 2>a century for their families. This brings us to the

0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:42.160
<v Speaker 2>larger issue of human rights in Australia, and as we

0:13:42.240 --> 0:13:46.680
<v Speaker 2>celebrate Human Rights Day today, the tenth of December, we

0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:51.000
<v Speaker 2>have to consider what is being discussed in the broader community,

0:13:51.600 --> 0:13:56.160
<v Speaker 2>and once again, Indigenous rights are largely ignored. The main

0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:59.640
<v Speaker 2>issues we've seen over the last week and throughout this

0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:05.040
<v Speaker 2>year have been around the debate around same sex marriage

0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:10.240
<v Speaker 2>and that recently passing through the Parliament, and of course

0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:15.480
<v Speaker 2>the ongoing issue of refugees being held in disgusting conditions

0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:23.800
<v Speaker 2>in offshort attention on Manus and Nhru. But how do

0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:28.440
<v Speaker 2>these issues relate more broadly will It should be quite obvious,

0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:35.000
<v Speaker 2>and yet it's constantly ignored. Australia has a long history

0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:37.880
<v Speaker 2>of committing the sort of crimes we see on Manis

0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:42.480
<v Speaker 2>and Nru, but these are never discussed when people discuss

0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:48.040
<v Speaker 2>the issues of refugees. Australia continues to fail to address

0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:54.240
<v Speaker 2>its original sin, the invasion and massacre and genocide committed

0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:59.320
<v Speaker 2>against First Nations people. But many people seem to believe

0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:03.880
<v Speaker 2>that stock just after the arrival of the first fleet.

0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:09.000
<v Speaker 2>The fact is it continues to this day. And as

0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:14.640
<v Speaker 2>we talk about Manus and Nhru, two small islands where

0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:19.600
<v Speaker 2>refugees are being held, what we should be discussing to

0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:24.920
<v Speaker 2>understand the context of these places is the way Australia

0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:30.600
<v Speaker 2>post colonialism used islands to punish Aboriginal people and murder

0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:35.400
<v Speaker 2>Aboriginal people. This would give historical context to the way

0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:39.320
<v Speaker 2>the Australian government has always dealt with such issues, but

0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:45.040
<v Speaker 2>sadly human rights abuses committed against Aboriginal people are swept

0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:49.640
<v Speaker 2>under the carpet. So I want to talk briefly about

0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:53.640
<v Speaker 2>two islands that mirror and to be honest, are far

0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:56.840
<v Speaker 2>worse than what has ever happened at manis and Nhru,

0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:00.000
<v Speaker 2>and that if people who truly care about what is

0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:04.480
<v Speaker 2>happening in those two places looked at these two islands,

0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:08.040
<v Speaker 2>that a part of Australia would start to understand the

0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:12.760
<v Speaker 2>broader context and perhaps we could begin to heal as

0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:16.720
<v Speaker 2>a whole as a united country, rather than continually leaving

0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:22.000
<v Speaker 2>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island to people behind. Rotnest Island

0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:27.400
<v Speaker 2>in Western Australia and Palm Island in Queensland were two

0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:33.280
<v Speaker 2>places where the worst of humanity took place, where largely

0:16:33.360 --> 0:16:39.120
<v Speaker 2>white settlers murdered and massacred and imprisoned like refugees in

0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:45.440
<v Speaker 2>their own country, Aboriginal people. The Queensland government took Aboriginal

0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:50.120
<v Speaker 2>people to Palm Island for minor infractions such as being

0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:55.240
<v Speaker 2>an i quote disruptive or being pregnant to a white man,

0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:59.120
<v Speaker 2>or for the crime of being born with mixed blood

0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:07.240
<v Speaker 2>These are all the very definitions of genocide and people

0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:14.000
<v Speaker 2>should not have forgotten parm Island. Remember it's only in

0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:17.119
<v Speaker 2>recent history that once again parm Island was in the

0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:22.840
<v Speaker 2>news when Mulrunji Dummage was murdered by a police officer

0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:28.840
<v Speaker 2>on parm Island. Did that police officer go to jail?

0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:32.440
<v Speaker 2>Of course he didn't. But someone else went to jail,

0:17:33.520 --> 0:17:37.480
<v Speaker 2>a proud Aboriginal man, Lex Woodten, who's been a fantastic

0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:42.479
<v Speaker 2>supporter of Kevin Henry and Lex went to prison because

0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:47.360
<v Speaker 2>he was protesting the disgraceful actions of police, the criminal

0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:54.720
<v Speaker 2>actions of police, and the continuing and disgraceful treatment of

0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:58.600
<v Speaker 2>Aboriginal people on parm Island by both the government and

0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:02.080
<v Speaker 2>law enforcement. And yet it was he who ended up

0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:07.399
<v Speaker 2>in prison. Thankfully, Lex is free now and he received

0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:12.720
<v Speaker 2>some compensation for what happened. But no compensation can ever

0:18:12.880 --> 0:18:17.760
<v Speaker 2>bring back Mulrunji. No compensation can ever make up for

0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:22.680
<v Speaker 2>the hundreds of years of trauma and persecution and murder

0:18:22.720 --> 0:18:28.400
<v Speaker 2>and death that's been targeted upon Aboriginal people across Queensland

0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:32.160
<v Speaker 2>and those sent to Palm Island. What about the trauma

0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:35.040
<v Speaker 2>of the children and all the people living on Palm

0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:40.160
<v Speaker 2>when Mulrunji was killed. What about those who are still

0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:43.720
<v Speaker 2>living with the consequences in his family, who have never

0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:48.679
<v Speaker 2>seen justice for their loved one. How is this place

0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:53.600
<v Speaker 2>any different to manis and Nhru and why doesn't it

0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:58.920
<v Speaker 2>receive the same attention in Western Australia. Like in Queensland,

0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:05.280
<v Speaker 2>Rotten Island was used as a prison colony. It was

0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:12.600
<v Speaker 2>used almost exclusively for Aboriginal people. And what many people

0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:17.439
<v Speaker 2>don't realize but should, is that hundreds of Aboriginal men,

0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:22.760
<v Speaker 2>women and children died on the island. It's believed up

0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:26.080
<v Speaker 2>to three hundred and sixty nine graves are still on

0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:30.880
<v Speaker 2>the island. Nearly four thousand Aboriginal men and boys were

0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:34.040
<v Speaker 2>imprisoned on the island while it was used as a

0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:39.959
<v Speaker 2>prison colony. The reports, not just from Aboriginal people, but

0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:43.240
<v Speaker 2>from white people who visited the island during this period

0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:49.040
<v Speaker 2>speak of cruelty that goes beyond what most could imagine.

0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:54.920
<v Speaker 2>The killing of inmates being beaten, the large scale death

0:19:55.000 --> 0:20:00.200
<v Speaker 2>of inmates who were exposed to the influenza virus. This

0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:05.040
<v Speaker 2>is one of the darkest places in Australian history postcolonialism,

0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:12.840
<v Speaker 2>and yet it rarely rates a mention. Just like con

0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:20.840
<v Speaker 2>Palm on Rotnest Island, Aboriginal prisoners were treated brutally. It's

0:20:20.880 --> 0:20:23.880
<v Speaker 2>the sort of thing you expect to see on the

0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:28.440
<v Speaker 2>news from bygone eras, and yet Australia will not acknowledge

0:20:28.440 --> 0:20:31.800
<v Speaker 2>it as part of its history and won't seem to

0:20:31.840 --> 0:20:35.560
<v Speaker 2>make the connection that if Australia was willing to do

0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:39.919
<v Speaker 2>this to Aboriginal men, women and children for simply having

0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:44.480
<v Speaker 2>mixed blood, as they say, for simply being pregnant to

0:20:44.560 --> 0:20:49.399
<v Speaker 2>a non Indigenous person, for being an I quote disruptive,

0:20:50.880 --> 0:20:53.000
<v Speaker 2>is it any one day that they'll do this to

0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:56.760
<v Speaker 2>those who are fleeing war zones around the world trying

0:20:56.800 --> 0:20:59.600
<v Speaker 2>to come to Australia for a better life, and then

0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:04.440
<v Speaker 2>in them on MANUS and NRU. Australia needs to make

0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:08.920
<v Speaker 2>this connection. Australia needs to understand that in prisons right

0:21:09.000 --> 0:21:14.600
<v Speaker 2>around this country right now, Aboriginal men, women and children

0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:20.040
<v Speaker 2>are being treated violently and despicably. We've seen the footage.

0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:24.320
<v Speaker 2>We've seen what happened in don Dale, We've seen what

0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:29.160
<v Speaker 2>they did to Miss Due in Western Australia. We've seen

0:21:29.200 --> 0:21:32.679
<v Speaker 2>what they did to mister Briscoe in Alice Springs. We

0:21:32.840 --> 0:21:37.080
<v Speaker 2>know what they've done over decades to Kevin Henry, we

0:21:37.200 --> 0:21:40.360
<v Speaker 2>know all the stories the four hundred deaths in custody

0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:45.840
<v Speaker 2>of Aboriginal people in the last twenty five years. Australia

0:21:45.920 --> 0:21:51.439
<v Speaker 2>has a prison problem, and that should be obvious. The

0:21:51.480 --> 0:21:55.240
<v Speaker 2>country we now know as Australia was founded as a prison.

0:21:55.800 --> 0:22:00.880
<v Speaker 2>It was founded on invasion, murder, genocide and brutal treatment

0:22:01.320 --> 0:22:08.800
<v Speaker 2>and that continues to this day. So as we look

0:22:08.840 --> 0:22:13.919
<v Speaker 2>at Human Rights Day twenty and seventeen and think about

0:22:14.080 --> 0:22:18.119
<v Speaker 2>those small places close to home, so small they can't

0:22:18.119 --> 0:22:21.639
<v Speaker 2>be seen on any maps of the world, we should

0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:26.840
<v Speaker 2>be thinking about every community, small town and large town

0:22:27.080 --> 0:22:33.679
<v Speaker 2>and city in Australia where human rights abuses continue. And

0:22:33.720 --> 0:22:38.800
<v Speaker 2>as Eleanor Roosevelt famously said, we shall look in vain

0:22:38.880 --> 0:22:43.960
<v Speaker 2>for progress in the larger world if these human rights

0:22:43.960 --> 0:22:49.720
<v Speaker 2>abuses are not tackled, if the citizens of this country

0:22:49.960 --> 0:22:54.199
<v Speaker 2>don't seek to uphold them. Right now, it falls on

0:22:54.600 --> 0:22:59.760
<v Speaker 2>the families of the people, like those families of Lynette

0:22:59.800 --> 0:23:04.760
<v Speaker 2>Day and the Bauerville families, and the family of Kevin Henry,

0:23:04.800 --> 0:23:07.880
<v Speaker 2>and the family of Linda and the family of Miss dew.

0:23:09.920 --> 0:23:14.439
<v Speaker 2>Why does this continue. It continues because Australians refuse to

0:23:14.520 --> 0:23:19.639
<v Speaker 2>make the connection between all the human rights abuses that

0:23:19.800 --> 0:23:25.080
<v Speaker 2>began with invasion and continue to this day. Australia has

0:23:25.119 --> 0:23:29.040
<v Speaker 2>to wake up and look at the connection that exists.

0:23:29.640 --> 0:23:32.000
<v Speaker 2>We have to put the pieces of the puzzle together

0:23:32.359 --> 0:23:36.760
<v Speaker 2>to see the bigger picture. If we don't, these fractured pieces,

0:23:37.080 --> 0:23:40.760
<v Speaker 2>these small places that cannot be seen on maps, like

0:23:40.880 --> 0:23:45.320
<v Speaker 2>Palm and rot Nest, like in Rockhampton and in don

0:23:45.440 --> 0:23:49.440
<v Speaker 2>Dale and right around the country, human rights of Aboriginal

0:23:49.480 --> 0:23:54.399
<v Speaker 2>people will continue to be abused. This country needs a

0:23:54.440 --> 0:23:58.080
<v Speaker 2>wake up and if we're going to treat this day

0:23:58.280 --> 0:24:02.800
<v Speaker 2>of human rights seriously for those who haven't begun to

0:24:02.920 --> 0:24:06.680
<v Speaker 2>take action, to day should be that day. To day

0:24:06.760 --> 0:24:09.000
<v Speaker 2>should be that day that you send that e mail

0:24:09.560 --> 0:24:13.240
<v Speaker 2>to the Attorney General of Queensland on behalf of Kevin Henry,

0:24:15.000 --> 0:24:17.399
<v Speaker 2>and with that spirit in mind, it should also be

0:24:17.560 --> 0:24:21.000
<v Speaker 2>the day you send an email to the Immigration Minister

0:24:21.080 --> 0:24:27.199
<v Speaker 2>of Australia about what's happening on Manus and Neru. It

0:24:27.240 --> 0:24:29.640
<v Speaker 2>should be the fact that you also send an email

0:24:30.200 --> 0:24:33.520
<v Speaker 2>to the Attorney General of New South Wales and ask

0:24:33.680 --> 0:24:36.520
<v Speaker 2>why it took so long to get justice ful Nnette

0:24:36.600 --> 0:24:39.119
<v Speaker 2>Daily in her family, And what are we going to

0:24:39.160 --> 0:24:44.640
<v Speaker 2>do about the brutal police right around this country. If

0:24:44.640 --> 0:24:48.800
<v Speaker 2>you don't take action to day, then we shall look

0:24:48.840 --> 0:24:53.000
<v Speaker 2>on in vain. That was episode forty five of Curtin

0:24:53.119 --> 0:25:00.000
<v Speaker 2>the Podcast. Please check out our website, Curtainthepodcast dot com,

0:25:00.480 --> 0:25:03.760
<v Speaker 2>go to our Facebook page of the same name, and

0:25:03.880 --> 0:25:07.120
<v Speaker 2>find us on Twitter, and don't forget you can support

0:25:07.200 --> 0:25:09.880
<v Speaker 2>the work that Amy and I are doing to assist

0:25:09.960 --> 0:25:14.920
<v Speaker 2>not only Kevin Henry, but many families around Australia seeking justice,

0:25:15.400 --> 0:25:19.320
<v Speaker 2>Indigenous families that deserve the truth to be known and

0:25:19.600 --> 0:25:23.040
<v Speaker 2>justice to be done. We can't do it with nothing,

0:25:24.000 --> 0:25:27.960
<v Speaker 2>and all these families and all Aboriginal people deserve much

0:25:28.040 --> 0:25:36.080
<v Speaker 2>better than what has come to this day.