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

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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Albert Hartnett at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy

Photographs of Wangkumurra man, Albert Hartnett, keeping the fire burning at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, Ngunnawal-Ngambri country.

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NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody

Today was the second day of the NSW Upper House Parliamentary inquiry into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Gail Hickey, mother of T.J. Hickey appeared before the inquiry this afternoon next to representatives of the Indigenous Social Justice Association (NSW), Faith Black and Raul Bassi. Parents of Tane Chatfield, Colin and Nioka, were also on hand to lend support, after submitting a statement to the inquiry yesterday.

A silent vigil marched past NSW Parliament House during the hearing, carrying placards with images of some of the more than 400 victims of Aboriginal deaths in custody since the 1991 report from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody was released.

After about an hour of statements and questions, Gail Hickey left the inquiry in tears, frustrated and distressed by the experience, which she compared with reliving the trauma of the coronial inquest of her son’s death 16 years ago.

The inquiry is expected to hand down its findings early next year.

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Sacred Djab Wurrung Tree Felled

Yesterday, on the same day that the Victorian Government announced the easing of COVID-19 restrictions across the state, VicRoads cut down the sacred ‘Directions Tree’ on Djab Wurrung country. The ancient tree was one of several culturally significant trees that have been at the centre of protest against a $157 million highway upgrade into Ararat to the north-west of Melbourne.

The loss of the tree has been compared to Rio Tinto’s destruction of the Juukan Gorge rock shelters in Western Australia.

Traditional custodians and supporters have been waging a protest to protect the sacred trees at the Djab Wurrung Embassy since 2018. Many protesters have been unable to travel to the site due to the COVID-19 lockdown measures imposed on Melbourne.

Several other sacred trees on Djab Wurrung country continue to remain under threat from being felled due to the roads project.

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Extinction Rebellion - NSW Gvment In Bed With Santos

Yesterday, Extinction Rebellion (XR) held a 'lock-on’ action outside State Parliament to bring attention to the close ties of the NSW government with gas giant, Santos.

Macquarie Street was blocked off for around 20 minutes, as a makeshift bridal bed was suspended outside the gates of Parliament House. Two people - one dressed as the NSW Government, the other as the gas industry - played out making love atop of the bed, and threw fake dollar bills into the air before police and riot squad arrived.

Santos has recently been given the green light to build a gas seam project in the Pilliga forest on Gomeroi country in north-western NSW. The Berejiklian government backed what is known as the Narrabri Gas Project, which was given formal approval by its Independent Planning Commission late last month. More than 850 gas wells are due to be drilled in the Pilliga.

The XR action insisted that the NSW government was ‘in bed’ with fossil fuel interests. The Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, is under pressure for her relationship with former MP and lover, Daryl Maguire. Maguire is currently before the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), which is hearing evidence in relation to dodgy dealings with developers and kickbacks from a range of financial and other business interests.

The Narrabri Gas Project has been described as “an environmental disaster waiting to happen”, and Gomeroi elder, Maria 'Polly' Cutmore compared it to the colonial massacres of Aboriginal people.

Two people were arrested at yesterday's event.

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Sandstone and Jackboots - Protest at Sydney Uni

Several hundred students today protested at the Sydney University campus against the passing of recent legislation which will see funding cuts and fees for some humanities degrees increase by up to 113%. Universities are already expected to lose around 30,000 jobs. Students also railed against the crackdown on political dissent - specifically the ability to protest. This is the sixth rally at Sydney University in recent weeks, in which a large police presence has broken up gatherings, arresting some and issuing many $1000 fines for breaking COVID-19 public health orders.

Today, the action began with with an outdoor seminar on ‘Higher Education and Political Dissent’, held on the lawns of the University’s quadrangle. A large contingent of police and riot squad looked on from a distance. At one point during the seminar, hundreds of students suddenly streamed out of the library and nearby buildings, chanting demands for the end of cuts to education and for ‘cops off campus’.

Using a tactic of recent protests in Sydney to stretch police lines, the students moved at high speed, through the University, down City Road and into Victoria Park, pursued by police. Mounted police also followed but were hindered by students rushing up steps, which the horses were unable to traverse. The rally then moved down to Parramatta Road and eventually back on to campus. There were reports that a Law Professor was caught up in proceedings, knocked to the ground by police and arrested. Several fines were also issued.

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Sydney Thai Protest - Anniversary of Thammasat Massacre

To mark the 44th anniversary of the Thammasat massacre, a contingent of Sydney’s Thai community gathered at the steps of Town Hall on Saturday to demand fundamental political change in Thailand.

Thailand is currently in turmoil, with large persistent protests across the country, despite the COVID situation. The unrest stems from a fragile democratic system under threat, the disappearance of political activists and discontent with the transparency of the actions and finances of the Thai monarchy.

The current turbulence echoes the period leading up to the Thammasat Massascre, 44 years ago. On the 6th of October, 1976, around 50 leftist students were shot, beaten and hanged from trees at Thammasat University by royalist militia and security forces during protests against a return to military dictatorship.

A planned anti-government rally in Bangkok next week is set to draw up to 100,000 people.

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Protect Trans Kids: Kill Latham's Bill - Protest

Between 300 and 500 people gathered at Taylor Square to protest against an anti-Trans bill, which is being put before NSW Parliament by One Nation’s Mark Latham. The legislation is aimed at outlawing “gender fluidity teaching, course development and teacher training” in NSW schools. Trans activists, LGBTQI communities, mental health experts, lawyers and Greens MPs have labelled the bill as “transphobic”, “obscene” and “ideological”.

Today’s rally went ahead, despite being banned by the Supreme Court, as police endeavoured to again suppress yet another protest - as it did the Black Lives Matter protest in July - citing COVID-19 concerns. The court decision came just a day before the NSW government announced that it would permit 15,000 people to attend a major horse race in Sydney and while 40,000 spectators are due to attend the NRL grand final in a few weeks time.

Within a few minutes of speeches beginning at Taylor Square, police moved in announcing a move-on warning. Protesters immediately flooded down Oxford Street and then through Hyde Park in a game of cat and mouse with riot squad members. Protesters were eventually corralled on Elizabeth Street in the CBD, where several people were dragged away, at least one arrested and several others issued with $1,000 fines for contravening COVID-related health orders.

A petition against the Latham bill has attracted over 80,000 signatures.

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Uncle Willie Leslie

Uncle Willie was removed from his family in Moree by authorities at age 12 and taken to the Kinchela Boys Home on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales in the 1960s, notorious for its treatment of Aboriginal boys and symbol of what would become known as The Stolen Generation.

Despite this, Uncle Willie has only good memories of his time at the government-run institution. During these formative years, he grew up making life-long friends amongst the other boys, some who did not fare as well. “Everyone had their own experience", says Uncle Willie of his time at Kinchela.

Leaving the boys home at 18, he worked at a nearby chocolate factory, and eventually made his way down to Sydney, where he excelled at football and then at boxing. Uncle Willie eventually became Australian Boxing Champion in the bantam division.

Today, Uncle Willie works at Eora College. In his spare time, he takes his bicycle around regional NSW and Queensland, cycling around and exploring small country towns, keeping fit in body, mind and spirit.

He reunites with his Kinchela buddies twice a year, and is supported by the Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation.

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Silent March: Stop Aboriginal Deaths in Custody

Yesterday around 40 people in 2 groups of 20 (to adhere to COVID-19 laws) walked from Circular Quay to Sydney Town Hall in a silent march to commemorate Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

This march drew particular attention to the deaths of John Pat and Wayne Fella Morrison, who died in custody on the 28th of September in 1983 and the 26th of September 2016 respectively.

Well over 400 Aboriginal people have died in custody since the recommendations of the Royal Commission were handed down in 1991.

The latest victim - the death of Aunty Sherry Fisher-Tilberoo - occurred in a Brisbane City watchhouse just earlier this month.

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Shadow Catcher

Shot on a Leica M6 TTL, 50mm Summicron f2, Ilford SFX 200 black & white film.

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Reminder of Julian Assange

Two lone protesters walk down George Street in Sydney’s CBD, carrying a sign and a speaker blasting out the song, “Tie A Yellow Ribbon ‘Round The Old Oak Tree”, to remind pedestrians of the current trial in London seeking to extradite Julian Assange to the USA on charges of espionage.

On Wednesday, journalist Daniel Ellsberg, the man who in 1971 famously leaked the Pentagon Papers revealing widespread American political corruption during the Vietnam War, defended Assange in court, equating some of the US actions in Iraq and Afghanistan exposed by Wikileaks to war crimes.

If Assange is extradited to the USA, he could face a sentence of up to 175 years of imprisonment.

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