Shortly after
protests began in the United States in late May 2020 seeking justice for
George Floyd
George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit tw ...
, an
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...
who was murdered during an arrest by
Minneapolis police, people in Australia protested to show solidarity with Americans and the
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...
movement, as well as to demonstrate against issues with police brutality and
institutional racism
Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of racism that is embedded in the laws and regulations of a society or an organization. It manifests as discrimination in areas such as criminal justice, employment, housing, health ...
,
racism in Australia
Racism in Australia comprises negative attitudes and views on race or ethnicity which are related to each other, are held by various people and groups in Australia, and have been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices and actions (including ...
, and
Aboriginal deaths in custody
Aboriginal deaths in custody is a political and social issue in Australia. It rose in prominence in the early 1980s, with Aboriginal activists campaigning following the death of 16-year-old John Peter Pat in 1983. Subsequent deaths in custody ...
. Vigils and protests of thousands of participants took place nationwide.
Background
The
COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 January ...
began with the first recorded case in January 2020. By March,
social-distancing rules were implemented, international borders closed to non-residents, and a series of
lockdown
A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely.
The term is used for a prison ...
s began in some places, responding to outbreaks of the disease.
On 25 May 2020, US police responded to a callout. As a result,
George Floyd
George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit tw ...
, an
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
man, was arrested for allegedly using counterfeit money. Once restrained, Floyd repeatedly stated "I can't breathe" whilst a white officer knelt on his neck, asphyxiating him. When footage of the event was released, all officers affiliated with the arrest were fired. Floyd's death was ruled a
homicide
Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
by the coroner, with charges being laid against the officers.
The murder of George Floyd lead to widespread protests in the US, as his murder became a focal point for
race relations
Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in th ...
, institutionalised racism and police brutality.
Police brutality in the United States
Police brutality is the repression by personnel affiliated with law enforcement when dealing with suspects and civilians. The term is also applied to abuses by "corrections" personnel in municipal, state, and federal prison camps, including m ...
was a longstanding social issue, with activists often protesting against excessive force and high incarceration rates of African Americans.
Aside from solidarity with US protesters, these themes also resonated in Australia, where the media considering similarities with
Aboriginal deaths in custody
Aboriginal deaths in custody is a political and social issue in Australia. It rose in prominence in the early 1980s, with Aboriginal activists campaigning following the death of 16-year-old John Peter Pat in 1983. Subsequent deaths in custody ...
and wider
social issues faced by Indigenous Australians. Oppression of
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
is a prominent theme in
Australian history
The history of Australia is the story of the land and peoples of the continent of Australia.
Aboriginal Australians, People first arrived on the Australian mainland by sea from Maritime Southeast Asia between 50,000 and 65,000 years ago, and ...
. Despite encountering Indigenous Australians upon their arrival, members of the
First Fleet
The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command o ...
invoked the principle of ''
terra nullius'' to claim the continent. This was followed by a long period of
recurrent massacres and violent conflicts. By the 20th century, the Australian government adopted a policy of
forcibly separating mixed-race Indigenous children from their families, which remained in place until the 1970s.
In 1987, the
Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) (1987–1991), also known as the Muirhead Commission, was a Royal Commission appointed by the Australian Government in October 1987 to Federal Court judge James Henry Muirhead, ...
was appointed to investigate 99 cases of Aboriginal deaths in custody during the 1980s. As of 5 June 2020, an additional 434 Aboriginal Australians had died in custody since the commission's findings were handed down in 1991. As of 2016, while Indigenous Australians accounted for roughly 2% of Australia's total population, they made up 27% of the national prison population, with incarceration rates rising markedly in the preceding decade.
The George Floyd protests in Australia often referenced recent instances of Aboriginal deaths in custody. These include: the 2014
death of Ms Dhu in police custody; the 2015 death of
David Dungay (whose final words were "
I can't breathe") in a prison hospital; the 2017 death of
Tanya Day in a police cell; and the forceful arrest of an Aboriginal teenager on 1 June 2020.
Many Indigenous people have been frustrated that it took the murder of a black man in the US to bring focus onto injustices in Australia.
Reactions
Prime Minister
Scott Morrison stated his beliefs that violent protests would not create change. He warned against Australian demonstrations taking a similar course as "there's no need to import things happening in other countries." Following major Australia-wide protests on 6 June, Morrison called them "completely unacceptable" and demanded an end to further protests. In addition to concerns around
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...
, he stated that some protests had been hijacked by left-wing movements, and called for demonstrators at future events to be charged. However, after being challenged on his assertion that there had not been
slavery in Australia, Morrison acknowledged that "all sorts of hideous practices" had taken place in the past.
The
Labor Party did not directly criticise people protesting, but said that everyone should follow the authorities’ health advice. Senior Indigenous MP
Linda Burney said that it was important for the media to focus on the issues, not whether people protested or not.
Demonstrations
Australian Capital Territory
*
Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
: 2,000 protesters in the capital city marched to
Parliament House on Friday 5 June.
New South Wales
Protests occurred across the state, Australia's largest, to show solidarity with American protesters and to highlight
the high rate of death among incarcerated Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
. The protests were preempted by an incident wherein a 16-year-old Indigenous boy was kicked and pinned to the ground by a
New South Wales Police Force
The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...
officer in
Surry Hills.
Protests in this state were in violation of the state's Public Health (
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...
Restrictions on Gathering and Movement) Order at the time, which banned gatherings of more than ten people outdoors for a common purpose without a reasonable excuse or exemption.
Sydney
Three major protests were held in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...
. The first was held on Tuesday 2 June, where 3,000 protesters peacefully marched from
Hyde Park to
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
and
Martin Place.
The second and largest protest was held on Saturday 6 June, where at least 10,000 protesters gathered at
Sydney Town Hall and marched to
Belmore Park. The crowd chanted "
I can't breathe" and held a
moment of silence for George Floyd.
A
counter-protest
A counter-protest (also spelled counterprotest) is a protest action which takes place within the proximity of an ideologically opposite protest. The purposes of counter-protests can range from merely voicing opposition to the objective of the othe ...
er, who interrupted the protest by holding up an "
All Lives Matter" sign, was handcuffed and removed from the protest by police.
A group of protesters was pepper-sprayed by police at
Central Station
Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
following the protest, and Acting Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon later defended this action as an appropriate use of force.
The protest caused significant controversy.
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier.
A premier will normally be a head of governm ...
Gladys Berejiklian originally stated that she believed people had a right to protest, but later
backflipped and deemed the protest "illegal" and in violation of the state's public health orders. Following this, the protest was subject to a successful legal challenge in the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
from the Commissioner of the
New South Wales Police Force
The New South Wales Police Force (NSW Police Force; previously the New South Wales Police Service and New South Wales Police) is the primary law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Divided into Police Area Commands (P ...
on the basis of health reasons. That decision was overturned on appeal by the
New South Wales Court of Appeal just minutes before the protest began. The Court of Appeal – constituted of
Chief Justice Bathurst,
President Bell and
Justice Leeming – overturned the decision of Justice Fagan on the basis that the protest organisers had complied with the necessary steps in order to gain approval to hold the protest in an authorised way.
A third protest was held on the evening of 12 June in solidarity with protesters at Sydney's
Long Bay Correctional Centre
The Long Bay Correctional Complex, commonly called Long Bay, is a correctional facility comprising a heritage-listed maximum and minimum security prison for males and females and a hospital to treat prisoners, psychiatric cases and remandees, loc ...
,
where
Corrective Services officers fired
tear gas
Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ...
on inmates who spelled out "BLM" on the prison yard. Approximately 300 protesters met in
Hyde Park because of a significant police presence at Sydney Town Hall, the original location for the protest.
600 police were involved in policing the gathering, and one woman was arrested for failing to comply with a move on order.
Mounted police
Mounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. Their day-to-day function is typically picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and increasingly in t ...
and officers guarded a large statue of
James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...
located in Hyde Park on the night, which was later defaced. A police officer was filmed making an
OK gesture
The OK gesture or OK sign or ring gesture (symbol/emoji: "👌") is performed by connecting the thumb and index into a circle, and holding the other fingers straight or relaxed away from the palm. Commonly used by divers, it signifies "I am OK" ...
toward protesters, a gesture which has been co-opted by the
white power movement. The Police Force denied that the officer used the gesture in an offensive way.
Rest of New South Wales
*
Byron Bay: 5000 gathered at Apex Park and knelt for
8 minutes and 45 seconds in memory of George Floyd on 6 June.
*
Coffs Harbour
Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 as per 2021 census. The Gumbaynggirr ...
: A protest on 6 June attracted hundreds.
*
Katoomba: 200 protesters gathered at the council seat of the
Blue Mountains on 6 June and held a
smoking ceremony
Smoking ceremony is an ancient and contemporary custom among some Aboriginal Australians that involves smouldering native plants to produce smoke. This herbal smoke is believed to have both spiritual and physical cleansing properties, as well as ...
.
*
Lismore: 1000 protesters marched from Spinks Park to the Lismore police station on 6 June.
*
Newcastle: An estimated 5,000 protesters gathered in Pacific Park and marched through the city to Civic Park. The protest, held on Saturday 6 June, was one of the largest rallies the city has ever seen.
*
Wyong
Wyong () is a town in the Central Coast of New South Wales, located approximately 63 km SSW of Newcastle and 89 km NNE of Sydney. Established in 1888, it is one of the two administrative centres for the local government area.
Hist ...
: An estimated 500 protesters marched through the town's central business district to the Wyong Court House.
*Protests were also held in
Port Macquarie
Port Macquarie is a coastal town in the local government area of Port Macquarie-Hastings. It is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. The town is located on the Tasman Se ...
,
Wagga Wagga
Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's ...
(led by
Aunty Isabel Reid) and
Wollongong
Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near w ...
.
Northern Territory
*
Alice Springs
Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' A ...
: 500 protesters gathered at the town's courthouse.
*
Darwin: 1000 protesters gathered at Civic Park and marched through the central business district on 14 June, in a protest organised by members of the
Larrakia people, who are the traditional owners of the Darwin area.
The protest was granted an exemption from the Territory's coronavirus health orders, which restrict outdoor gatherings of more than 500 people.
Queensland
*
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
: An estimated 15,000 protesters gathered in
King George Square in Brisbane's
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
on Saturday 6 June. Earlier, on 3 June, a candlelight vigil was held in
Musgrave Park attended by 40 to 50 people. They lighted 432 candles to represent
432 known Aboriginal deaths in custody, and a 433rd candle for Floyd.
*
Townsville
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...
: 1000 protesters rallied at
The Strand.
*
Cairns
Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...
: 3000 protesters protested at Fogarty Park on Sunday 7 June.
South Australia
*
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
: At least 6,000 protesters gathered in
Victoria Square/Tarntanyangga
Victoria Square, also known as Tarntanyangga (formerly Tarndanyangga) (), is the central square of five public squares in the Adelaide city centre, South Australia.
It is one of six squares designed by the founder of Adelaide, Colonel William ...
on Saturday 6 June and marched along
King William Street after the
South Australia Police
South Australia Police (SAPOL) is the police force of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of South Australia. SAPOL is an independent statutory agency of the Government of South Australia directed by the Commissioner of Po ...
Commissioner gave protesters an exemption from lockdown restrictions. A second protest had been planned for the following Saturday, but police disallowed this.
The protest was titled "Solidarity with Minneapolis" by the organisers, and speakers included several
African Australian
African Australians refers to Australians who were born on the African continent and migrated to Australia, or who have or had an immediate ancestor who made such a migration. Large-scale immigration from Africa to Australia is only a recent ph ...
and Aboriginal speakers, who mostly focussed on Australia's history of violence and racism and towards black people. Among those who addressed the crowd were actor
Natasha Wanganeen
Natasha Wanganeen is an Aboriginal Australian actress. She is known for her starring role in the 2002 feature film ''Rabbit Proof Fence'', aged 15, and numerous television roles. Her debut film as co-writer and co-producer is the 2022 short fil ...
,
Kaurna
The Kaurna people (, ; also Coorna, Kaura, Gaurna and other variations) are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kaurna ...
culture and
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...
educator and 2011 SA
Young Australian of the Year Jack Buckskin,
South Sudanese
South Sudan is home to around 60 indigenous ethnic groups and 80 linguistic partitions among a population of around million. Historically, most ethnic groups were lacking in formal Western political institutions, with land held by the communit ...
musician
Gabriel Akon (known as DyspOra), several
elders, including 76-year-old Kaurna and
Narungga
The Narungga people, also spelt Narangga, are a group of Aboriginal Australians whose traditional lands are located throughout Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. Their traditional language, one of the Yura-Thura grouping, is Narungga.
Country
...
elder Yvonne Agius and Aunty Joan Lemont, as well as relatives of deceased victims.
Tasmania
*
Hobart: About 3000 people gathered on the lawns in front of
Parliament House in solidarity with the international George Floyd protests.
Hand sanitiser and masks were made available, and entry to the lawns was restricted at times to keep the crowd at an acceptable size.
*
Launceston: About 300 people peacefully protested at a vigil in
Prince's Square against racism and police brutality against minorities.
Protesters stood for
8′46″
8 minutes 46 seconds (8:46) is a symbol of police brutality that originated from the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Derek Chauvin, a police officer, knelt on Floyd's neck, asphyxiating him. The ...
of silence. Speakers also covered issues
Aboriginal Tasmanians
The Aboriginal Tasmanians ( Palawa kani: ''Palawa'' or ''Pakana'') are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. For much of the 20th century, the Tasmanian Aboriginal people were widely, an ...
face, such as Indigenous children being
strip search
A strip search is a practice of searching a person for weapons or other contraband suspected of being hidden on their body or inside their clothing, and not found by performing a frisk search, but by requiring the person to remove some or al ...
ed by police.
The vigil had been approved by the local health authorities, and hand sanitiser and masks were made available.
Victoria
![Black Lives Matter - Melbourne (Australia) Rally 47](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Black_Lives_Matter_-_Melbourne_%28Australia%29_Rally_47.jpg)
*
Ballarat: An estimated 350 protesters gathered at Alfred Deakin Place for a
Smoking ceremony
Smoking ceremony is an ancient and contemporary custom among some Aboriginal Australians that involves smouldering native plants to produce smoke. This herbal smoke is believed to have both spiritual and physical cleansing properties, as well as ...
and silent protest.
*
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
: An estimated 7,000 protesters gathered at the
Parliament of Victoria
The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly an ...
and marched to
Flinders Street railway station
Flinders Street railway station is a train station located on the corner of Flinders Street, Melbourne, Flinders and Swanston Street, Swanston streets in the Melbourne city centre, central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria (Austral ...
on Saturday 6 June 2020.
The organisers of the protest, the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance, were each fined A$1651 for organising a mass gathering in violation of the Victorian Chief Health Officer's coronavirus directives,
which prohibited outdoor gatherings of more than 20 people. Several days later, Victoria's Chief Health Officer revealed that one of the protesters had since been confirmed as
COVID positive, though suggested they would have likely contracted COVID-19 before the protest (and may have been asymptomatic during it)
Western Australia
*
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
: Up to 2,000 protesters rallied at
Forrest Place
Forrest Place is a pedestrianised square located within the CBD of Perth, Western Australia. The street was created in 1923, and has a history of being a focal point for significant political meetings and demonstrations.
Description
Forrest P ...
in the
central business district (CBD) on 1 June 2020.
Up to 10,000 protesters rallied at
Langley Park and marched through the
central business district (CBD) on 13 June, which was the largest protest in the nation.
Notes
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:George Floyd protests, Australia
Australia
Protest marches
Protests in Australia
2020 in Australia
Indigenous Australian politics
Anti-racism in Australia