31 arrested at Musgrave Park tent embassy

Thirty-one people were arrested as hundreds of police officers moved to evict protestors from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Musgrave Park, South Brisbane this morning.

The Brisbane City Council ordered the eviction in preparation of this weekend’s annual Paniyiri Greek festival which uses the park.

Police began closing nearby streets and surrounding the camp at dawn and negotiated with camp organisers for a peaceful resolution.

Negotiations stalled and an extended standoff took place as more police slowly entered the park and surrounded the camp.

At 9am, police began escorting protestors out of the site with most leaving peacefully as the crowd chanted “Always was, always will be Aboriginal land”.

The protestors had been camping in the park for the last two months to campaign for Aboriginal sovereignty and indigenous self-determination.

The camp was inspired by the Aboriginal Tent Embassy that has been on the lawns of Old Parliament House in Canberra since 1972.

“We asked for one tent,” protestor Shannon Ruska said. “And what happened? They said no.”

A group of remaining protestors marched to the opposite end of Musgrave Park with the sacred fire from the original camp to set up a new camp.

The sacred fire was started by embers from the fire at the Canberra Tent Embassy.

Comments
One Response to “31 arrested at Musgrave Park tent embassy”
  1. joe2 says:

    Good work, Barclay. Your reporting on this did more for me than anything I spotted on msm, today.

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