By Tony Collins and David Brazil
Bathurst is a ``Tidy Town'', even though a very untidy incident
is taking place within its famous district court building. Ten
kooris find themselves at the mercy of Judge Bill Nash and an
all-white jury, accused of ``riotous assembly'' on the basis of
uncorroborated police evidence.
May 6 has been set down for the sentencing of key black activists
Albert (Sonny) Bates and Arthur Murray. They have already been
found guilty of riotous assembly and assault. The jury is still
deliberating on the fates of Guy Gibbs, Floyd Gillen, Dallas
Scuthorpe, Richard Sullivan, Luke Williams and Keith (Corgi)
Wilson on similar charges.
The charges stem from the night of August 15, 1987, when hundreds
of Aboriginal people gathered in the small north-west NSW town of
Brewarrina for the funeral of Lloyd Boney. It was Boney's death
in the Brewarrina police cells that prompted the announcement of
the Royal Commission into Black Deaths in Custody.
After a protest march to the jail, more than 150 Aboriginal
people gathered for a peaceful wake in Memorial Park. The trouble
started when Brewarrina Hotel publican Geoff Martin appeared with
his friends on the balcony overlooking the park. He shouted at
the crowd: ``Shut up you mob of niggers, you black bastards, I'll
blow you away, get out of the park''. The 12 shotguns they had
with them confirmed the seriousness of the threats. Two shots
were fired.
Arthur Murray, a fearless campaigner for the Royal Commission
after the 1981 death in police custody of his own son, Eddie
Murray, witnessed the events. ``Aboriginal people got the idea
that this prejudiced man really wanted trouble ... Once these
words were said out of this white man's mouth, they in turn have
taken to his hotel, smashing windows and throwing empty kegs
through his doors and through his windows and then the police
were called.''
The NSW police Tactical Response Group had been flown up from
Sydney especially for the funeral. At about 9.30 p.m. they moved
into the park. The incident that followed led to the arrest of 17
Aboriginal people, including the 10 now standing trial in
Bathurst District Court. None of the white protagonists or the
police were charged.
An ABC film crew and a Sydney Morning Herald photographer
captured parts of the incident. This allowed the identification
of some of the people involved. But exactly who did what and
when, was purely a matter for the trusty police notebooks, which
were not filled in until three days after the event.
The trial
Despite the recent High Court decision on uncorroborated police
evidence, it seems highly organised police prosecution is still
impossible to beat, especially when they've had three years to
get their story straight.
Riotous assembly, an outdated law used almost exclusively against
Aborigines in disputes with the police, carries a maximum term of
life. Sydney University criminologist Chris Cunneen says it is
the most serious public order charge the police have at their
disposal, used at their discretion when other charges such as
offensive behaviour or disorderly conduct would clearly suffice.
The trial proceedings were quite remarkable. The main police
witnesses have attested to being prejudiced, relevant evidence
has been disallowed, and the crown's case has been changed
numerous times to fit the evidence. Nevertheless, an all-white
jury, (following the dismissal of two kooris by the crown
prosecutor), were able to reach a guilty verdict in the case of
Bates and Murray.
Much of the police case was based on the testimony of Kevin
Martin, owner of the Brewarrina Hotel, and his brother Geoff
Martin. Under cross-examination, Geoff answered ``Yes'' to the
question: ``I suggest that you are so prejudiced that you are
prepared to come into court and say that every Aboriginal person
who was in the vicinity of the police that night was throwing
bottles''.
The jury was directed that this wasn't an inquiry into relations
between whites and blacks in the town and that they were to
ignore media reports of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal
Deaths in Custody relating to Lloyd Boney.
The Royal Commission, however, appeared to be high on the mind of
the police in compiling their case. Arthur Murray was a target
from the beginning due to his work in instigating the Royal
Commission. Murray was in town to visit his mother, who was very
ill and died within hours of the ``riot''. In an interview two
days before he went on trial, he explained the situation:
``The next morning they were fishin' around to find people who
had been involved with it. There was no doubt in anyone's mind
that I'd be the first bastard to get charged because probably the
cops didn't think that I had any right to be in Brewarrina at the
time.''
In a dramatic incident on May 3, Rodney Grimes, a co-accused,
blew open the police case against Murray. During the presentation
of references, Grimes stood in the dock and said ``It was me that
broke the policeman's leg. Mr Murray didn't do it. Shows how much
you judge and jury know.'' This was dismissed by Judge Nash as an
irrelevant interjection.
Previous experience
Judge Nash was the trial judge in the case of the ``Bourke
riots'' of August '85 and '86, and has had previous dealings with
many of the accused. He specifically requested to serve on this
case.
During the sentencing hearing for Murray and Bates on May 3, he
repeatedly interrupted defence council Robert Cavanagh, turning
the defence arguments on their head.
The judge enjoyed posing as an authority on race relations due to
his extensive experience as a magistrate in Bourke. ``There
weren't problems with the Aborigines in the '50s and '60s ... One
asks oneself why'', he declared. When Cavanagh pointed out the
systematic oppression of blacks within Australian society he
retorted, ``Cut it out Mr Cavanagh - if you walk down the streets
of Brewarrina and Bourke, you see whites and Aborigines chatting
away with each other''. When the question of land rights arose,
he responded, ``You don't get white Australians talking about
land rights''.
A protest against the police frame-up will be held on Wednesday,
May 8, outside the Supreme Court, Macquarie Street, 12
noon.
[Thanks to Antony Balmain for information used in this
article.]
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Reprinted from Green Left, weekly progressive newspaper.
Copyright by the authors.