Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
‘IT’S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO ME’
Indigenous Australian Wendy Brookman was incensed with Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s reaction to the violent clashes on U.S. streets following George Floyd’s death with the comment.
“Thank goodness,” he said, “we live in Australia.” The 37-year-old mother of five joined 2,000 people in a peaceful protest in the Australian capital Canberra because she wants police brutality and the high incarceration rate among Aboriginal people put on Australian governments’ agenda.
It’s disrespectful for families who have had to bury loved ones to hear the government gloss over the country’s problems, she said.
Indigenous Australians account for 2% of the nation’s adult population and 27% of the prison population.
“Being a mother of five children, it’s extremely important for me to make sure that my children are given the same rights as any other child growing up in this day and age,” said Brookman, a teacher and women’s gym owner.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators have joined largely peaceful anti-racism rallies in all of Australia’s major cities since Floyd’s death. One focus: an Australian police officer charged with murder in the shooting death of a 19-year-old Aboriginal man in November.
The officer, Zachary Rolfe, has pleaded not guilty and said he was defending himself, and has been released on bail to live with family in Canberra. Brookman believes he’ll be acquitted due to Australia’s poor record of convicting police over indigenous homicides.
“That’s unacceptable that we know that he’s not going to get convicted,” she said. “It’s imperative that this is a discussion that’s spoken about and not hushed away.”