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Aboriginal Law Bulletin

Aboriginal Law Bulletin (ALB)
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Cerexhe, Carolyn --- "Stirrings: Mass Arrests at Woorabinda - Shades of Soweto" [1996] AboriginalLawB 94; (1996) 3(87) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 12


Stirrings:

Mass Arrests at Woorabinda - Shades of Soweto

by Carolyn Cerexhe

On Tuesday 3 December, Operation Caloma commenced, during which Queensland police raided the Indigenous community of Woorabinda, 165km from Rockhampton. The Minister for Police, Mr Russell Cooper, reported that 33 police officers were involved in the operation.

The raid happened around the time of the funeral of a highly respected community leader, people were intercepted and arrested as they left the funeral. Traffic police patrolled the community border and stopped cars going in and out on random vehicle checks.

A total of 52 people were arrested: 16 women and 38 men, and many were still in custody two days later. The warrants mostly related to minor offences, such as traffic infringements, some of which had been outstanding for years.

Mr Cooper himself stated, 'But most people will find it difficult to imagine police would have gone anywhere near a white funeral to execute a warrant of the nature of those involved in this operation'.

So far, the Minister, and the media, have been focussing on the grossly insensitive timing of the raid, being so close to the funeral.

Yet the very fact that this raid happened at all says volumes about the relationship between Indigenous people and the police. When did the police last raid a white community in this manner?

The police have denied that children were left unattended when their parents were taken away, but there are many questions still to be answered about the raid.


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