this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2024

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Arrest warrant issued for Tasmanian Aboriginal elder but 81yo says he doesn't recognise 'colonial' courts (www.abc.net.au)

submitted 4 months ago by MHLoppy@fedia.io to c/australia@aussie.zone

11 comments fedilink hide all child comments

In short: Aboriginal elder Jim Everett-puralia meenamatta was arrested in March for protesting against native logging in Tasmania. He says he won't recognise the "colonial" courts.

He bailed to appear on June 3, but a warrant was issued for his arrest on Monday after he failed to appear in the Hobart Magistrates Court.

What's next? Mr Everett says he expects to be arrested again, but he'll have to be "pushed" into the court — where he intends to question its sovereignty over Aboriginal people.

all 12 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 3 months ago

old mate is a legend. Protect your homeland with pride.

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 3 points 4 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

A Tasmanian Aboriginal elder says he has no intention of appearing in court — or participating in the "colonial" judicial system — on a charge of trespass for taking part in a protest against native forest logging.

Mr Everett was arrested and charged on March 19 in a native forest coupe in the Styx Valley in southern Tasmania, and was bailed to appear on June 3; a hearing he did not attend.

He does not intend to appeal against any sentence he receives — even if it results in a jail term — as he does not recognise any Australian court.

The Styx Valley protest was part of the Bob Brown Foundation's ongoing campaign against native logging across Tasmania.

Veteran environmentalist and former federal Greens senator Bob Brown himself is among them, and will appear in court in July to contest his charge.

Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre campaign manager Nala Mansell called on the charge against Mr Everett to be dropped.

The original article contains 560 words, the summary contains 160 words. Saved 71%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[+] Tau@aussie.zone -17 points 4 months ago (6 children)

The American inspired variety of sovereign citizen is enough, I don't think we really need our own special version of the idea.

[–] makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml 26 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

You'd enjoy the yidingi nation in Cairns then.

They have their own governer general, police, taxation department and more.

They have an immigration department, and you can even apply to be a citizen.

They are a nation, and are recognised as such by a fair chunk of overseas countries.

They literally were dual policing, in public, with the Queensland police, side by side, on nadoc week, and have their own vehicles, officers and more.

When you see that, and you see this guy from Tasmania, his claim doesn't feel so far fetched anymore.

If he's from the nation that traditionally owns the land being logged, and he protests on his own land, then from a human perspective I feel for him. From a legal perspective though, situations like the yidingi of the north will probably need to be tested first.

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 17 points 4 months ago (1 children)

and are recognised as such by a fair chunk of overseas countries

Which? Wikipedia says they're "reaching out to countries like Russia and Venezuela to establish diplomatic relations", but there's nothing in there or on the cited article suggesting they received any response. Searching Google restricted to their official website for the words "recognise", "acknowledge", "embassy", "relation", and a few conjugations of those words all turned up zero results. They do seem to have had friendly discussions with federal ministers, but no formal recognition, and they don't seem to be using their own vehicle registrations any more. (Side note: that last article is a particularly good one for getting a full broad picture of what it is they really want and the situations that lead to them being as they are today.)

Note: I am not attempting to make any kind of "ought" argument here. Merely an "is" one. And it does not seem true to claim that the Yidingi Nation "is" recognised in any official way, as far as I could find.

[–] muntedcrocodile@lemm.ee 2 points 4 months ago

Sir facts and logic have no place in a lemmy comment thread

[–] notgold@aussie.zone 1 points 4 months ago

I remember the arrente patrols when I was in the Alice. It's seemed bazaar at first but after a bit you understand it's better for all parties involved. The day/night patrol didn't make sense though

[–] maculata@aussie.zone 20 points 4 months ago

Yeah, nah, this is different.

I hate the US Sov Cit loonies, but this guy is righteous.

Besides, fuck the logging companies that destroy native forests.

[–] Zagorath@aussie.zone 7 points 4 months ago

We already have our own nutso right-wing sovcitz. This isn't much more extreme than Mabo was, prior to that case being decided.

[–] Dkarma@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago

He's the equivalent of native Americans not sov cits

[–] ieatpwns@lemmy.world 5 points 4 months ago

You aren’t a sovcit if you’re part of the natives of the land before it was colonized