The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (TAC) organized the protest. Karlie Olive Burgess Goodwin, a state committee member of TAC told Green Left Weekly that the protest was to “give support to Aboriginal Communities in the Northern Territory” suffering under the Northern Territory intervention started by the Howard government and continued under the Rudd Government but also because “they are looking to put the same measures in Tasmania” or as Goodwin explained it “we don’t want it to happen to us and we hate that it’s happening to them.”
While Trudy Maluga, an Aboriginal Legal Field Officer explained, “Kevin Rudd and Jenny Macklin didn’t ask for permission to come onto my people’s country. They way they’ve continued the intervention and spread it into parts of Western Australia and Queensland is disgusting and racist…We’re here today to say we want that intervention scrapped and want our independence and self determination back, we want the Racial Discrimination Act to be re-instated and want Aboriginal land returned to Aborigines.”
Police initially explained to Green Left Weekly that verbal protest was allowed outside the entrance to the hall where the ‘community cabinet’ was to be held. But the loudness of the protest soon become too much for police who sought to move on all protestors to outside the school grounds. Police arrested Nala Mansell-McKenna, State Secretary for TAC, for obstructing police. However, Nala told Green Left that “ We weren’t obstructing anyone entering the forum, we just sought to express our opinion but the police seemed to have a problem with that. I was arrested for not moving on fast enough”. Mansell-Mckenna was finger printed, DNA swabbed and was bailed to appear in court in January. Goodwin stated that the behaviour of the police was “disgusting”. “They were manhandling us, getting in peoples faces and I think they’re actually racist towards Aboriginal people. It disgusts me that we can’t protest about their laws.”
When asked what she wants the Rudd government to do rather than continue the intervention Goodwin explained that she wanted Rudd “to support the Aboriginal community. He has said ‘sorry’ but done nothing else to support the Aboriginal community. This is Aboriginal Land and it is stolen. Kevin Rudd needs to realize that. I thought Labor was going to do right by Aboriginal People but they don’t care about us as people or as a community.”
Maluga said she wanted to tell Rudd to “stick his sorry words where the sun don’t shine, because we don’t believe one word you are saying. You are degrading us as a people, treating us like children. Give us the funds and we will create a better Tasmania.”
Last year, when Rudd was in Launceston for a ‘Community Cabinet Meeting’, TAC had requested a meeting with Rudd, “but like John Howard, Kevin Rudd refused to talk to us and completely ignored us,” Moylan told Green Left Weekly.
Goodwin summed up by saying she wants Jenny Macklin to know that if the intervention is spread to Tasmania she will “fight and fight against it and will continue protesting until they stop the intervention.”
