If I was born in another country I might be able to live on the land, speak the language, experience culture and operate in the skin groups that I belong to… What a crying shame that here… ‘Its all about Control’.
Unfortunately police custody is part of the Aboriginal experience – there is hardly a single family that hasn’t had a loved on in contact with the ‘authorities’.
My first hand experience involved being charged with ‘fail to cease to loiter’ and 5 hrs in the Alice Springs watch house. The charge was dropped an hour before court, but while in custody I was fingerprinted, DNA tested, refused a phone call and refused legal aid, among other absurdities.
The regulatory processes of governments are serving some, but oppressing others…
Mistreatment is common, they want Aboriginal people to be invisible – stay at home, out of the eyes of tourists. Venues of ‘entertainment’ assist police in the ‘cleansing’ of their premises and surrounds for the ‘public’ eye.