Supporters mobilise for Tent Embassy
BY SIMON BUTLER
SYDNEY — Following reports that police were about to evict Aboriginal protesters from Victoria Park and close the Aboriginal Tent Embassy there, 150 supporters quickly gathered on August 11.
The South Sydney Council is seeking an injunction in the NSW Land and Environment Court to force the Tent Embassy out of the park. South Sydney mayor John Fowler declared in a press statement, "The Aboriginal Tent Embassy will have to leave Victoria Park".
In a cynical attempt to divide the Aboriginal rights movement, Fowler expressed support for the proposal by the Metropolitan Land Council to stage the Budyari Cultural Festival during the Olympics at nearby Redfern Oval.
Addressing the supporters, Laura-Lee Stewart from the Indigenous Student Network explained that the Tent Embassy had been peacefully campaigning for Aboriginal rights since 1972. She urged everyone to remain peaceful in the event of a police raid. The police had no right to evict them from Aboriginal land, Stewart said.
While the feared police raid did not occur, there remains a pressing need for more people to show their support, pitch tents and join the Tent Embassy. South Sydney Council remains determined to rid itself of the Tent Embassy before the Olympics begin.