Djiriba Waagura - Welcome to Country

Helensburgh Little Dam Jumpers

Teenaged boys take a break from school over the summer holidays at what they call ‘Little Dam’, Helensburgh, just south of Sydney.

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Vale Jonny Lewis

Jonny Lewis, one of Australia’s foremost photographers, passed away on Sunday, aged 70.

This shot of Jonny was taken at Redfern Park during a commemoration for Black Diggers on ANZAC Day, 2017.

Jonny was always encouraging to me - an observant, smart, empathetic, witty and highly skilled photographer. His work and memory lives on.

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Djiriba Waagura at Black Markets

Djiriba Waagura dance group perform at Blak Markets on Bare Island, La Parouse, Bidjigal country.

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

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Tribute to Aunty Bowie Hickey

Bowie Hickey, Gamilaroi matriarch, grandmother, mother, aunty and activist, has passed on.

Pictured here speaking at the Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy at The Block in 2015 (with the late Ray Jackson, far right).

Vale.

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^Permission by Aunt Bowie’s family was given to post this image.

Gamil Means No: Rally Against Santos Gas Mines On Gomeroi Land

Around 200 people gathered yesterday at Sydney’s Martin Place, Gadigal, to protest against the drilling of up to 850 coal seam gas wells in the Pilliga forest on Gomeroi-Gamilaraay land in north-western New South Wales.

The wells will be drilled directly above the Great Artesian Basin, the largest artesian basin in the world and the largest fresh water supply in Australia.

The massive gas project was recently approved by the Federal Government and will be drilled by gas giant, Santos.

Traditional owners, the Gomeroi-Gamilaraay people, oppose the project, fearing cultural and environmental devastation, the destruction of sacred sites and the poisoning of the water table. Environmentalists and farmers also have grave concerns for the impact of the gas field.

Yesterday’s rally marched through the city to Sydney Town Hall where speeches were made. The protest was organised by Gamilaraay Next Generation and was part of a nationwide action, ‘Gamil Means No’.

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TJ Hickey e-Petition to Launch

Gail Hickey and her grandson, TJ (jnr), stand at the site in Redfern-Waterloo where Gail’s son, TJ (snr), was killed during a police pursuit in 2004.

These photographs were taken ahead of a new e-petition to be launched demanding a parliamentary inquiry into TJ Hickey’s death, after a previous petition failed to gain parliamentary support earlier this year.

Gail Hickey and her family gathered at the Waterloo Housing Estate on Saturday to mark the launch of the new petition, again demanding justice for TJ, more than 16 years after his death.

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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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