Last Updated on April 3, 2011
ABORIGINAL protesters will refuse to leave the Kings Domain at midnight tonight unless the State Government meets their demands.
The so-called sacred fire and Camp Sovereignty have attracted controversy since they were established during the Commonwealth Games.
The Supreme Court ordered the camp to be dissolved last month, but an indigenous heritage inspector put a 30-day emergency protection order over the fire, which is next to a burial site in the park.
Campaigner Gary Murray said the group wanted better security for the burial site. “The site has been desecrated,” he said yesterday. “There were five huge eucalypt totem poles. Where are they now? The council can’t tell us.”
The council said the totem poles were never meant to be permanent.
Campaigners regularly cleared up the site because it was littered with syringes, bottles and other rubbish, Mr Murray said. “We want a permanent fence around the memorial stone.”
The burial site was created in 1985 after Melbourne Museum handed back the skeletal remains of 38 people to Victorian Aboriginal communities.
The burial was marked by a public ceremony and the permanent memorial stone was installed.
Black GST spokesman Robbie Thorpe said he expected a large gathering of support today and there would be a screening of films about indigenous issues.
Aboriginal Affairs Minister Gavin Jennings is expected to order Melbourne City Council local laws officers to extinguish the fire at midnight when the protection order expires.
Spokesman Martin Curtis said the fire would be doused. “The minister has still not seen … any evidence that would support extending the deadline or protecting the fire,” he said.
The fire would be extinguished and the embers removed, a Melbourne City Council spokeswoman said. “Council contractors will then begin work to reinstate the parkland to its original condition,” she said.
Across the world right now, Indigenous peoples are facing a renewed assault on their lands, rights, and ways of life.
From extractive industries pushing deeper into ancestral territories, to governments rolling back hard-won protections,
the threat is global—and it is growing.
What makes this moment especially dangerous is how little attention it receives.
Stories like this are disappearing in real time. Mainstream media
barely covers it and the coverage is fragmented. The public is left without the context
needed to understand what is truly at stake.
That is exactly why IC Magazine exists..
For more than 20 years, IC has reported on Indigenous struggles worldwide — consistently, independently, and without compromise.
We don’t follow news cycles; we trace patterns. We don’t sensationalize; we provide context.
And when the world looks away, we stay focused.
But this work is increasingly difficult to sustain.
We refuse to lock our reporting behind a paywall. We don’t sell access through subscriptions.
And we don’t answer to advertisers. IC Magazine survives solely because readers like you choose to
support independent Indigenous journalism.
Please donate today if you can. Every contribution helps us to continue this crucial work.
Thank you,
John Ahni Schertow
Founder and Editor in Chief
