Elders demand Woodridge brawlers be deported


  • by: Heidi Braithwaite, Albert&Logan News
  • From: Quest Newspapers
  • January 14, 20135:23PM


Cultural leaders on both sides of recent violence in Logan say the weekend's brawls show racial tensions have gone too far to be resolved by a sit-down.

Voice of Samoa spokesman John Pale said the situation between Pacific Islanders and Aboriginals in Logan has gone beyond being fixed by community meetings alone.

"I don't think meetings will work, it's the actualisation of those meetings that's more important, we can meet and meet everyday but it can amount to nothing,'' he said.

"Sometimes what the elders discuss is different from what the young people are thinking or doing.

"It's just sad to hear these things are happening again and again, I don't know what the solution is but it needs to be looked into deeply.''

A member of the Aboriginal community demanding action from police at Logan Central police station today also suggested that young people were not listening to elders.

"We think the young people may be organising some kind of retribution (for the violence on the weekend)," Gresham Brown said.

"But they are doing it provately on Facebook so the elders don't get in the way.

"We really hope it doesn't come to that."

Logan Police said they would increase their presence in the areas where racial tensions have been reported as long as it took to calm things down.

Earlier report:
Aboriginal community members descended on Logan Central police station today, demanding that those behind the weekend's violent brawls in Woodridge be deported.

A group of about 20 people arrived at the station just before noon to make the demand. Ten people, led by Aboriginal leader Reverend Alexandra Gater, were allowed into the station to speak with senior police.

Reverend Gater told the Albert&Logan News she had lost faith in the police to handle the situation of rising racial tensions after only two of an alleged group of 30 Pacific Islander youth involved in a brawl on Sunday night were charged with public nuisance.

"I've got no confidence in them at all. We've been fighting the police over unresolved issues for years and they've done nothing,'' she said.

"What they're (the police) doing is blaming drugs and alcohol when this stemmed from the young boy who was hit by a train (Jackson Doolan) and because his family went to support him. This is retaliation.

"We're calling for these people (those alleged to be responsible for the weekend brawls) to go back where they came from and take their baggage with them, to have them deported and never be allowed to return to Australia.

"Australia has become multicultural and here we (Aboriginals) are treated as outcasts in our own country.''

Premier Campbell Newman and Police Minister Jack Dempsey have defended the police response and called for people to "cool down".

Gresham Brown, a nephew of Richard Saunders who was killed on October 25, 2008 at Ewing Park, Woodridge, was also present at the police station. He said tensions had continued to rise since his uncle was killed.

"If the police don't do something about it, Aboriginal Law will come into effect and it will be a surprise when it does,'' he said.

"We are very fearful the young people will organise retribution, they are not listening to Elders, they are taking matters into their own hands."

Meanwhile, a group of over 30 Aboriginal people have gathered at the Douglas St house where trouble erupted on Sunday.

They told the Albert&Logan News they were preparing for an 'attack' by the Islander community and would use force to defend themselves if necessary.

Peter Briggs, who lives in the house, said cars allegedly filled with Pacific Islanders had been driving past all day and prompted the gathering.

Three police cars were in attendance at the Douglas St house this afternoon.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/logan/elders-demand-woodridge-brawlers-be-deported/story-fn8m0u8i-1226553567028