Story Bridge protest back on as talks with ABF fail
Organisers of a planned mass protest on the Story Bridge say the event will go ahead on Saturday, after a meeting with the Australian Border Force to gain day release for a group of refugees holed up inside a Brisbane apartment complex was labelled “a joke”.
QLD News
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Brisbane’s Story Bridge is again set to be blocked by refugee activists this weekend after talks between protest organisers and Australian Border Force (ABF) today were deemed “a joke”.
Representatives for activist group Refugee Solidarity Brisbane/ Meanjin met Tuesday morning with ABF and Queensland Police to discuss their demand of freedom of movement for 120 male refugees being detained inside a Kangaroo Point apartment complex.
The laws you could be breaking at tomorrow’s Kangaroo Point protest
Kangaroo Point refugee protest to close Story Bridge this Saturday
Kangaroo Point refugee tells protesters police are stopping him from seeing his family
A Refugee Solidarity Brisbane/ Meanjin spokeswoman told the media today’s meeting was “a joke” and they walked out after about one hour because the ABF “came in bad faith”.
“It was a joke the ADF and Qld police are both complicit in facilitating human rights abuse; they came unprepared (and) they brought nothing to the table,” she said.
“The people that were in the meeting kept saying that they were unable to make decisions, (that) they were all policy decisions, so what was the point of the meeting?
“It was a waste of time for us so we thought after an hour we have better things to do than listen to bureaucrats tell us that there is nothing that they can do.”
The spokeswoman said the group would go-ahead with a protest on Saturday, which was originally planned for last Saturday, but cancelled after Supreme Court action by the state’s Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath.
Ms D’Ath would not say on Tuesday if she would seek a new injunction but the matter is set down for a two-hour hearing for Thursday, in case she decides to proceed with a new application.
“The government looks at each case on its merits and takes into account all of the circumstances in determining whether there’s a need to seek an injunction,” she said.
“The Supreme Court injunction we were able to secure over the weekend was a sensible outcome and I believe the cancellation of that planned protest was supported by the vast majority of Queenslanders.”
The Refugee Solidarity Brisbane/ Meanjin spokeswoman alluded that the protest would go ahead even if a court injunction was issued.
“We stand by our word, we haven’t had our demands met today, unless the Minister says that they support day-release, on Saturday we will be meeting at Raymond Park at 12pm,” she said.
“There will either be thousands of people at the protest, or nobody if the border force says that they support day release
“We have hundreds of people who are willing to be arrested to make sure that the men inside Kangaroo Point are free.
“It’s been seven years, what else can we do?
“I know that everybody has their concerns with safety and the bridge … you can go around the damn bridge.”
The spokeswoman said that the health risks of transmitting coronavirus at the protest this weekend were lower than last week.
“The reason that we stopped the protest last time was because the health officer or something said that weekend was really important in making sure there were no transmissions, and yesterday we were in the clear,” she said.
“Now we know that we are allowed to do it, football is still on, a lot of mass gatherings are still on so we are allowed to gather.”