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They also want a NSW royal commission into the death of 17-year-old Thomas Hickey, who died last month after falling off his bike and becoming impaled on a metal fence. His death sparked a riot in the inner Sydney area of Redfern on February 15, because many believed police were chasing the teenager and were to blame for his death. Police deny they were pursuing the youth, saying they were after another male, who was later arrested for bag-snatching. Thirty-six police were hurt in the riot. The march will be led by Thomas Hickey's mother Gail. Hickey family spokesman and march organiser Lyall Munro said he would demand a national royal commission into the policing of Aboriginal youth and a NSW royal commission into Thomas Hickey's death. "We would hope the call for the two royal commissions will initiate some concern, at least from the (NSW) government," Mr Munro said. "It'll be a solemn, dignified march." Mr Munro said police had to be made accountable for their actions when they ignored the human rights of Aboriginal youth. "Every Aboriginal parent and child knows the fear of daily police persecution because we have all experienced it. "It is the sad reality of Aboriginal and police relations in Australia, and every Aboriginal mother knows that it could easily be one of her children chased, charged and thus criminalised for the rest of their lives." Supporters were gathering at The Block in Redfern
ahead of the march to parliament house. Source: Sydney Morning Herald
TJ's mother makes plea for justice
About 200 members of Sydney's Redfern and other Aboriginal communities made a peaceful march from the Block in Redfern to NSW Parliament House. Thomas "TJ" Hickey, 17, died last month after falling off his bike and becoming impaled on a metal fence. The protesters hope the march will increase their chances of a NSW royal commission into TJ's death and a national inquiry into police treatment of Aboriginal youth. His death sparked a riot in Redfern on February 15 by angry community members who believed police were chasing the teenager and were to blame for his death. But police deny they were chasing TJ, saying they were after another male subsequently arrested for bag snatching. Thomas' mother Gail said she wanted police to stop manhandling Aboriginal children. "They chase our kids like they are grown-ups, they drag them like little dogs and manhandle them. That's got to be stopped," she told reporters outside Parliament House. A number of speakers, including journalist John Pilger, addressed the group as they rallied in Macquarie street. "That part of Sydney (Redfern) is under a kind of siege and it's time it's ended and it's time its root causes were addressed," Mr Pilger told the crowd. Hickey family spokesman and march organiser Lyall Munro said police had to be made accountable for their actions when they ignored the human rights of Aboriginal youth. "We see it every day where our young people are intimidated and harassed by police," Mr Munro said. "It's got to stop. "We are calling for it to stop and we hope that the call for two royal commissions will initiate some concern at least from the government. Source: AAP
Police hold Redfern in 'state of siege', Pilger tells rally
Mr Pilger has addressed a rally outside the New South Wales Parliament, where around 200 members of Sydney's Aboriginal community and its supporters are calling for a national royal commission into police treatment of Indigenous youth. They also want a royal commission into the circumstances surrounding the fatal injury of teenager Thomas Hickey, whose death coincided with a police operation in the Redfern area last month and sparked a riot. Mr Pilger told the protesters the State Government should fund a proper inquiry into police treatment of young people in Redfern. "There are something like 60 police interventions a day in Redfern," Mr Pilger said. "Most kids can't walk to school without some kind of police contact or being arrested or harassed or whatever... what is certain is that part of Sydney is under a kind of siege." Petitions demanding the establishment of a state and national royal commission into the police treatment of Indigenous youth were accepted at the rally by Henry Tsang, who represents the Carr Government. Source: ABC
Nancia Guivarra
24 March 2004 - The peaceful protest began at the Block with around 75 people and gathered momentum, swelling to a crowd of around 250, mostly Aboriginal and Islander, people by the time it reached NSW Parliament House along Redfern, Chalmers, Elizabeth, College then Macquarie Streets. There were many familiar black faces in the march, protest leader, Lyall Munro, mother of TJ Hickey, Gail, TJ's girlfriend April, Aunty Isobel Coe, Jenny Munro, Uncle Cec, Kevin Smith, John Morton, MC Stingray, Patricia Daniels, Michael West, singer Tim Gubuma and non-Indigenous journalist John Pilger, all swathed by journalists, cameramen and sound recordists.
Led by Lyall Munro, the crowd chanted a mantra along the way: What do we want, JUSTICE and only occasionally: What have we got, FUCK ALL And while crossing William Street, Lyall called: TELL THE WORLD!! the exact same call of the 70s Aboriginal Land Rights protests, "TELL THE WORLD. Who owns this land? We do."
The chants we repeated over and over leading one's thoughts to assess Indigenous Australian's position in the country since then. The need for recognition still strong, the overwhelming pride, the unity. At Parliament House, speakers Jenny Munro, Kevin Smith, ATSIC Regional Chairperson, Marcia Ella Duncan and journalist John Pilger reminded us once again of the disgraceful figures we've heard over and over again, of Aboriginal mortality rates, ages of death, trachoma incidences, jail statistics and more. The speeches started with 17 (for the age of TJ) demands to Premier Carr relating to the harassment of Aboriginal youth to the NSW government by Jenny Munro. John Pilger then appropriately called for white Australians to stop their complacency, saying it's not enough just to walk over the Bridge. He said the silence is now deafening. He said that while white Australians ignored the human rights of black Australians, they were betraying their own. It ended with Lyall Munro presenting to a staffer from Dr Refshauge's office, another 17 demands for a royal inquiry into the death of Thomas TJ Hickey. Marchers and supporters, then returned to the "Block" for a barbeque and entertainment. Source: ABC
Demonstrators go out, demolishers go in By Connie Levett
The final chapter in clearing the Block - knocking down Joyce Ingram's terrace, which she left last week - was over before the marchers had reached Macquarie Street. Site supervisor Michael Deasy said it took less than 30 minutes for the 20-tonne excavator to lift the roof and push in the sandstock brick walls. The truck carrying the excavator was held back. "I told the driver to wait 20 minutes till the march left, or we'd have another riot," he said. A Block resident and organiser of the march, Lyall Munro, said it was a sad for the community. "But what can you do? The powers that be have won out." The march was vocal but peaceful. The only moment tension was felt when blue shopping-bag water bombs were thrown from an apartment building in Chalmers Street onto the crowd below. At Parliament House, Gail Hickey, TJ's mother, said she was marching because she wanted answers to questions about her son's death. "I have a right to justice and a right to truth," she said, carrying her youngest daughter, Bianca. Mrs Hickey will be at Glebe Coroners Court today for a conference with the coroner. It is standard practice, according to the court. No date has been set for the inquest. The marchers presented a number of demands to the State Government yesterday. They asked for a royal commission to be established and for the closure of coronial, ombudsman's and parliamentary inquiries. They also called for police officers involved in events around TJ's death to be stood down, and a stop to arrests in relation to the recent Redfern riot, pending the completion of the royal commission. The journalist and filmmaker John Pilger told the crowd that the State Government spends $110,000 a day on self- promotion. That money should be spent on monitoring Redfern. He called on white Australians to re-engage the Aboriginal debate. "By not giving a damn, we surrender part of our humanity . . . and until we whites give back to Aboriginal people their rights, their nationhood, we cannot claim our own," he said. Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Notice to the Australian Government and the People of Australia Media Release We, members of the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people of Australia, do therefore call on individual representatives of the Australian Government both State and Federal including the Police Commissioner of NSW, to conduct an Independent inquiry into the death of Thomas Hickey, a young seventeen year old Aboriginal boy from the Redfern and Walgett communities of NSW. This inquiry to incorporate the events leading to the heart wrenching reaction of his community. We demand that the inquiry be conducted by independent Aboriginal Consultants and not friends of the government and the police commissioner. We don’t want a WHITE WASH similar to the Black Deaths in Custody Royal Commission. We demand that the truth be told on how a young Aboriginal boy can die while riding his pushbike within his community. Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people within Australia are aware of the racism and injustices continually faced by Aboriginal people today specifically our young people in communities such as Redfern. We give notice to the Australian government both State and Federal that the continual denial of basic human rights and on-going POLICE HARASSMENT against Aboriginal people have not been addressed in this country. This is evidenced by the DEATH of a young boy. This DEATH was caused by continual policies of genocide implemented by past and present governments of AUSTRALIA which endeavour to disallow Aboriginal people to take their rightful place within Australia’s society as the descendents of the original owners of this land. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the Hickey Family and to the communities that Thomas belonged to. May Biame be with you and give you strength. We offer our heartfelt condolences to every Aboriginal person in this land as we know that this is the reality of INSIDE BLACK AUSTRALIA for Aboriginal people. We put John Howard, Bob Carr, and the rest of Australia’s so called leaders that have condemned the Aboriginal community of Redfern for their heart wrenching reaction to Thomas’s DEATH on notice for NOT offering condolences to his Mum, family AND COMMUNITIES. For
more information contact: Source: The
Redfern Block community website
Further information:
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March
24, 2004 - Aboriginal groups will march on NSW Parliament House today to call
for a national royal commission into the policing of indigenous youth. 
March
24, 2004 - The mother of Thomas Hickey has made an emotional plea for justice
as Aboriginal groups called for royal commissions into her son's death and the
policing of indigenous youth.
March
24, 2004 - Human rights activist and journalist John Pilger says police are holding
the Aboriginal community in inner Sydney's Redfern in a "state of siege".
March
25, 2004 - The demolition team moved into the Block yesterday just minutes after
hundreds of Aboriginal protesters marched off it, heading to Parliament House
to demand a royal commission into the death of Thomas "TJ" Hickey.
