They then proceeded to the Darwin City Council and occupied the reception area while chanting angrily against Council harassment of homeless Aboriginal campers. The protesters and their non-Aboriginal supporters also voiced concern at the 2001 Public Order and Anti-Social Conduct Act that was designed to close down ‘illegal’ Aboriginal camps hidden in vacant bush around the city. The original intention of the rally was to coincide with a Senate inquiry into mandatory sentencing, but the hearing was cancelled after the sudden calling of a general election in the Territory.

Since 1996, when the late city mayor had called for ‘itinerants’ to be constantly harassed ‘so they won’t settle’, there had been an increasing campaign to drive Aboriginal people from Darwin parks and beaches. Fifty-dollar on-the-spot fines proved ineffective when the homeless ignored the infringement notices. However, Darwin City Council and NT Conservation Commission rangers continued to impound swags, mattresses, clothing and utensils found in camps while the owners were absent. Homeless people were then asked to pay fifty dollars for the return of their belongings.

Arrogant officials also extinguished campfires in the presence of the campers. Following the decriminalisation of drunkenness in 1974, police patrols took intoxicated people into protective custody in the Coconut Grove sobering up centre, which is better known as the ‘spin dry’. Although there were few legal safeguards, for the last two years a ‘Night Patrol’ employing Aboriginal and Islander officers increasingly had been substituted for the police role.

Accusations were repeatedly made by campers that the ‘night patrols’ were not community-based. Instead of a protective role, the patrol officers, who were all big men, were persistently and forcibly removing people from parks and camps to the ‘spin dry’, where they were held for six hours. Innocent people sitting on the grass had been approached and Aboriginal shoppers resting on city benches had been asked to move on. After release, often late at night, even disabled people and pensioners taken to the ‘spin dry’ were made to walk back to their camps - perhaps to find that the camp had been closed and their possessions impounded.

Since 1996, when the late city mayor had called for ‘itinerants’ to be constantly harassed ‘so they won’t settle’, there had been an increasing campaign to drive Aboriginal people from Darwin parks and beaches. Fifty-dollar on-the-spot fines proved ineffective when the homeless ignored the infringement notices. However, Darwin City Council and NT Conservation Commission rangers continued to impound swags, mattresses, clothing and utensils found in camps while the owners were absent. Homeless people were then asked to pay fifty dollars for the return of their belongings.

Arrogant officials also extinguished campfires in the presence of the campers. Following the decriminalisation of drunkenness in 1974, police patrols took intoxicated people into protective custody in the Coconut Grove sobering up centre, which is better known as the ‘spin dry’. Although there were few legal safeguards, for the last two years a ‘Night Patrol’ employing Aboriginal and Islander officers increasingly had been substituted for the police role.

Accusations were repeatedly made by campers that the ‘night patrols’ were not community-based. Instead of a protective role, the patrol officers, who were all big men, were persistently and forcibly removing people from parks and camps to the ‘spin dry’, where they were held for six hours. Innocent people sitting on the grass had been approached and Aboriginal shoppers resting on city benches had been asked to move on. After release, often late at night, even disabled people and pensioners taken to the ‘spin dry’ were made to walk back to their camps - perhaps to find that the camp had been closed and their possessions impounded.

In response to complaints, leaflets were printed advising campers of their legal rights. The leaflets made clear the legal limits of ‘yellow tops’, as the Night Patrol vans are called, and the police ‘blue tops’. The media suggested that the NT election, due to be held two weeks after the protest, would focus on issues of gas pipelines, railways and other large-scale development projects rather than social issues. However, there existed a growing mood that Darwin was losing an identity that in the past owed much to a visible and influential Aboriginal presence.

Not surprisingly, the frustration and anger amongst a disenfranchised harassed and disadvantaged racial group in Darwin was expressed in the longgrassers’ protest. Fortunately, a talented team of Darwin filmmakers recorded the events. Their film is now available at the reasonable cost of $35.

Bill Day

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