Scott Morrison has gone to great lengths, yet again, to distance himself from Australia’s racist history, during an address on the current US protests being held in support of George Floyd.
“Australia is not the United States,” Morrison claimed yesterday, speaking with 2GB.
“As upsetting and terrible that the murder that took place – and it is shocking, that also just made me cringe… I just think to myself how wonderful a country is Australia,” he said.
Morrison also downplayed the importance of such protests taking place on Australian soil. “There’s no need to import things happening in other countries here to Australia.”
“We have our faults. We have our issues. There’s no doubt about that,” he continued. “But when I see things like that… I’m just very thankful for the wonderful country we live in.”
The problem with the this above statement was that he said ‘but’.
What Scott Morrison failed to acknowledge is that 432 Aboriginal people have died in police custody since 1991, and not one officer has ever been convicted.
“The Prime Minister, like others before him, has chosen to ignore this country’s legacy of Aboriginal deaths in custody,” says Nerita Waight, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services Co-Chair.
“Only last week, a police officer entered a not guilty plea for the murder of Yamatji woman Joyce Clarke, who was fatally shot in Western Australia. This was the second fatal police shooting in the last year, including 19-year-old Walpiri man Kumanjayi Walker in the Northern Territory.”
“National leadership is needed to end this injustice and begin to write the wrongs for our communities.”
If you have the means to do so, please do your research and donate to Indigenous-led organisations and campaigns.
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