Protesters have blockaded the Commonwealth Games Queen’s Baton Relay on the Gold Coast.
Organisers were forced to drop one leg of the relay with the route looping for a short period.
Wearing shirts and holding signs declaring “No Justice, No Games”, the group is protesting the colonisation of Australia.
It says the royal family – represented by Charles and Camilla, who touched down a short time ago – must ask to be on “stolen” Australian land.
“Today what we wanted to do was to make it clear to the mob, make it clear to the world and make it clear to our people that we’re standing strong,” a protester told Channel 7.
“And we don’t want nothing of the Commonwealth here. They’ve stolen the land, built this country on stolen wages, built this country on the blood and bones of our people.
“And it’s about time that history is acknowledged and about time that the royal families who are responsible for it all – that they come down here and get at our level and ask to be here on our country. That’s what needs to happen.”
The protest – which has included a sit-in all morning at The Spit – was organised by a national committee that includes members of the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance (WAR) and the Brisbane Aboriginal-Sovereign Embassy.
There are also plans to protest outside Carrara ahead of tonight’s opening ceremony.
The protest was advertised on Facebook and has more than 200 registered as attending. The group says it will protest for the entire Games period at Broadbeach, with “demonstrations, public forums and discussions” with showers and kitchen facilities provided by the group that calls for “passion and power” from attendees.
“Each time ‘Australia’ has hosted the games, thousands of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islanders as well as other groups who have been oppressed by the crown have united to resist colonial activity and authority,” the Facebook event reads.
About 1.15pm the protesters dispersed from the roadway and set up under a marquee in Doug Jennings Park.
A female protester said the display was to protest Adani and other decisions made by the State Government.
She said this was just the beginning, and there would be many more demonstrations over the coming 11 days.
It appears to have occurred where Olympic kayaker and Gold Coast lifesaver Ken Wallace was due to take the baton.
Protestor Aunty Pat Leavy said the message was no uranium dumps in Australia.
”They promised jobs, we got nothing,” she said.
”You need to start thinking about the sacred site here and what people want to do here (the spit) with putting a cruise port in.
”Every government minister has failed in his duty of care.
”Today is about letting people know we will be protesting all week.
”The Queen’s Baton, it represents the Commonwealth, they think we’re part of the Commonwealth… but we’re not.
”We want to be recognised as the sovereign owners of this land.”
Earlier today, Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski told media the police and protesters had been co-operating and were “in a pretty good space” with them.
“We’ve already had some protest activity yesterday which everyone saw was publicised quite well,” he said.
“We were very pleased with that, it was done in accordance with the agreement that we had in place with the groups that were protesting.
“They were able to have their say and get their message out, and do it in a way that didn’t disrupt the community and didn’t cause us any concerns.
“Certainly there’s going to be more – there’s more protest activity planned for today and we’re confident that will be done in a way that will minimise the amount of impact that it has on the broader community as well as the people attending the Games.
“We think we’re in a pretty good space with that.”
Commonwealth Games Federation CEO David Grevemberg said the organisation welcomed peaceful protests.
“I think that’s something that’s not extraordinary to the Gold Coast and it’s a human right,” he said.
Source:news.com.au
