• General
  • Trading
  • Science & Technology
  • Fashion
  • Health & Safety
  • Games
  • Key Issues
  • Legal & Judicial
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Submit News
  • Sitemap
Nepal News Gazette
Menu
  • General
  • Trading
  • Science & Technology
  • Fashion
  • Health & Safety
  • Games
  • Key Issues
  • Legal & Judicial
 › Fashion › General › Aboriginal Activists Stage Commonwealth Games Protests

Aboriginal Activists Stage Commonwealth Games Protests

nepalnewsgazette.com April 4, 2018     Comment Closed     Fashion, General

GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA �As an opening ceremony featuring symbolic tributes to Australia's indigenous people was getting under way, Aboriginal protesters were gathering outside the Commonwealth Games stadium to get a message across, too.

Flanked and outnumbered by a heavy police presence, about 100 protesters carried banners with the message "Colonisation Is Not A Game" and waved the black, red and yellow Aboriginal flags.

Chanting "No Justice, No Games," they walked up to the stadium at Carrara in the rain Wednesday night and were ushered by police, via a parking lot and soggy paddock, into a field across the road from the main entrance.

Australian Associated Press reported three protesters were arrested by police as they tried to enter the stadium without tickets.

A smaller group halted the Queen's baton relay briefly earlier Wednesday by blocking a road near Main Beach before the route was amended for the final 14 baton bearers to continue.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp. quoted protester Wayne Wharton saying "We are calling on the Commonwealth heads of every nation that has come here to demand [Prime Minister] Malcolm Turnbull to initiate a truth commission."

The British established colonies in Australia in the late 1700s after declaring it "terra nullius" � owned by no one � despite the presence of Aboriginal people on the island continent for at least 50,000 years.

Today, Aboriginal people make up just three percent of the population of 24 million and are the most disadvantaged ethnic group in Australia by most measures from health to employment to rates of imprisonment.

Activists, who have dubbed the event the "Stolenwealth Games," aim to highlight that despite former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's national apology in 2008 to Australia's Aboriginal people for past injustices, progress has been slow on the timetable he set for ending indigenous disadvantage.

Prince Charles, opening the 21st edition of the Commonwealth Games on behalf of his mother Queen Elizabeth II, said "sport can be a great force for good which can help create harmony between communities.

"The ancient stories told by the indigenous people of Australia remind us that even though we may be half a world away, we are all connected," said Charles, reading from a message from Queen Elizabeth.

The Commonwealth Games has brought together 71 nations and territories of the Commonwealth, and the opening ceremony was billed as "a celebration of unity, culture and diversity."

The night included a traditional welcome to land by a local indigenous elder and a smoking ceremony near the end, and highlighted imagery, scenes and sounds of the ancient culture.

Opening ceremony artistic director David Zolkwer said the ceremony was inclusive and "how, as the indigenous people of Australia tell us, we are all custodians of the same world."

Indigenous protests also coincided with previous Commonwealth Games in Australia in 1982 at Brisbane and in 2006 in Melbourne.

Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive David Grevemberg told a news conference earlier Wednesday that organizers "welcomed the right to peaceful protest."

Source: Voice of America

Fashion General

 Previous Post

DE LA HOYA CONFIRMS PACQUIAO-MATTHYSSE FOR MALAYSIA IN JULY

― April 3, 2018

Next Post 

ADB FINANCES MONGOLIA TO IMPROVE AIR QUALITY, EDUCATION

― April 5, 2018

Author: nepalnewsgazette.com

Related Articles

nepalnewsgazette.com ― January 18, 2021 | Comment Closed

Former officials fail to return 200 important books to Pashupati Library

People who borrowed books from the Pashupati Library based at the Pashupati area here have not returned important books for 20 years now. The library has a collection of rare and important books on Eastern philosophy. The library has a collection of 5,...

nepalnewsgazette.com ― January 18, 2021 | Comment Closed

Construction work for security printing press centre underway

nepalnewsgazette.com ― January 18, 2021 | Comment Closed

District returning office steps up preparation for elections

nepalnewsgazette.com ― January 18, 2021 | Comment Closed

FNJ Tanahun chapter decides to award its past presidents

nepalnewsgazette.com ― January 18, 2021 | Comment Closed

Potential polling booths monitored in Jhapa

nepalnewsgazette.com ― January 18, 2021 | Comment Closed

Ageing Nepal bags UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize 2020

nepalnewsgazette.com ― January 18, 2021 | Comment Closed

Two new species of birds spotted

nepalnewsgazette.com ― January 18, 2021 | Comment Closed

Charighyang Monastery rebuilt

Advertisement

Search News

Categories

Monthly Archive

Calendar

January 2021
MTWTFSS
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Dec    

Key Issues

NC meeting on Jan 26

― January 18, 2021

HoR dissolution adds challenges on political achievements: chair Nepal

― January 18, 2021

Fresh mandate a must for peace, stability and development: Prez Bhandari

― January 18, 2021

PM did not face obstruction in HoR: Hearing to continue Tuesday

― January 18, 2021

Human Rights

Seven involved in timber smuggling busted

― January 18, 2021

An adolescent girl dies of HIV infection

― January 18, 2021

EC consults political parties on upcoming election

― January 17, 2021

Hearing on writs against HoR dissolution to take place in constitutional bench

― January 15, 2021

Government committed to save citizen’s life: Minister Shrestha

― January 15, 2021

Advertisement

As this website is one of the renowned online
news websites of the country, it has the status to determine the path to follow for both local and regional news industries.

Follow Us


Browse By Pages

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Submit News
  • Sitemap

Categories

  • General
  • Trading
  • Science & Technology
  • Fashion
  • Health & Safety
  • Games
  • Key Issues
  • Legal & Judicial
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Submit News
  • Sitemap
© Copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved. Nepal News Gazette