Is there anyone braver than the residents of Palm Island?

The Queensland Greens today issued a statement of public congratulations to Speaker Mike Reynolds for standing up in support of his Palm Island constituents and criticising the timing of the police bravery awards. 

The Queensland Police Force is issuing bravery awards to the police officers who served on the island after the riots over Mulrunji’s death in custody in 2004.

Queensland Greens spokesperson Libby Connors said that while the police had indeed shown courage in doing their duty, the bravery of the Palm Island community had received no public acknowledgement. 

‘How brave are the Indigenous men and women who have to face up to an overwhelmingly monocultural police system knowing how many of their people have died in custody without explanation or punishment of those who failed in their official duty of care?’ she asked. 

‘Can anyone in the white community really understand the bravery and fortitude shown by the many Palm Island families, including small children, who were woken by armed and armoured riot police knocking down their front doors to arrest their fathers, mothers, uncles and aunties in the early hours of the morning following the riot?’

This community is still dealing with the grief and trauma of those months but it seems that there is to be no official support or restitution for these families, just more hardship and heartache worsened by official callousness. 

It is time to for the Queensland Government to find ways to re-dress the imbalance in this state’s relations with Indigenous people.  The legal system has shown it cannot do it. 

Contact: Libby Connors 0429 487 110