Aborigines occupy Lee Point
By Bill Day
DARWIN — On May 12, homeless Aboriginal people here reoccupied Lee Point, a camp site in Darwin's northern suburbs. The group erected a large sign saying: "We need shelter, water, not games — visitors welcomed".
The night before, the minister for lands, planning and environment, Mike Reed, had opened the Arafura Games, welcoming athletes from 25 countries to Darwin.
Reed is also the minister responsible for "relocating" the established Aboriginal town camp at Railway Dam to make room for a public park and for serving eviction notices on a severely disabled Aboriginal man who occupied the Lee Point camp last November.
The first occupation of Lee Point ended when the disabled man died after vowing never to leave the site, which had been his and his people's home for many years.
Reed has repeatedly said that homeless Aborigines should go back to their country. "Why doesn't Mike Reed go back to wherever he comes from?", said Len Stewart, one of the Lee Point campers.
On May 13, Stewart was served with an eviction notice under the Trespass Act by officers of the Lands Department. He burned the notice on ABC-TV news, defying Reed to act. Since then, two more warnings have been issued, and the police have been asked to evict the campers but have taken no action.
The camp is becoming more established with donations of tarpaulins, food, fishing lines and tools. Many non-Aboriginal supporters have either visited or defied regulations against sleeping in a public place by bringing their swags and guitars for a night around the camp fires.
The homeless Aboriginal people are determined to stay. The camp-in is the latest development in a long-running campaign which has included a march on Parliament House in Darwin and the dumping of buckets of dirt on the steps of the multimillion-dollar building.
Conditions at the Fish Camp, where the Lee Point people have been living since being evicted last July, are appalling, with no running water or toilets. At Lee Point, at least, there are public amenities they can use.