An Indigenous activist has set up an indefinite camp in a public park and is refusing to leave until the government gives it back.
Robbie Thorpe, the uncle of Independent senator Lidia Thorpe, established Camp Sovereignty at Kings Domain in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Mr Thorpe is joined by others who say they’ll stay there ‘forever’, or at least until the large park, 1km south of the city’s CBD, is returned to the people of the Kulin nation.
They hope to build a stone house there as a cultural interpretation centre for education and healing while removing all traces of the ‘Windsor crime family’.
The Kings Domain Resting Place is the burial ground for 38 Aboriginal people and Mr Thorpe held a similar demonstration there for 60 days in 2006.
An activist group in Melbourne led by Robbie Thorpe established ‘Camp Sovereignty’ at Kings Domain on Tuesday
The group claim they will be there ‘forever’, or at least until the land is handed back to the Indigenous community
Mr Thorpe, a Gunaikurnai man, said that ‘nothing’s changed’ since his last demonstration.
‘They’re exactly the same issues back then as there are now … we’re making people aware of the issues as peacefully as we can,’ he told the Herald Sun.
If the group is successful they plan on renaming the park ‘Yalukit Willam’, its traditional name, and holding ceremonies in the cultural interpretation centre.
Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl and the area surrounding the Royal Botanic Gardens are all within Kings Domain.
Senator Thorpe visited the site on Wednesday afternoon to show her support in ‘every way’ she can.
‘It’s a peaceful sit-in on Country, where we share stories, and we practice our sovereign rights on our own land,’ she said.
‘The movement has been going for almost 250 years … This is the 2024 version, and a statement to say: we’re not going anywhere.’
Aboriginal, Torres Strait and Palestinian flags circle a fire the group has maintained in the centre of their camp.
Mr Thorpe wants to open a cultural interpretation centre at the site and remove all traces of the ‘Windsor crime family’
His niece, senator Lidia Thorpe, paid a visit on Wednesday and gave her full support to the group
The fire has been burning since January 26 and is referred to as a ceremonial ‘ceasefire peace fire’ which was first lit by Invasion Day protestors.
Mats, sleeping bags, chairs and cushions are all that the group have to keep them comfortable.
They call themselves ‘the proper custodians’ of the land and their numbers have been steadily increasing since senator Thorpe’s visit.
While there, she went live on community radio station 3CR to call on others to join her uncle.
Mr Thorpe said if his group does not ‘win’ then they have nothing left and he is trying to work with the City of Melbourne to help foster an ‘Aboriginal culture close to the CBD’.
Police have visited the camp several times and Mr Thorpe has thus far complied with requests to remove tents and marquees from the space.
Camp Sovereignty’s organisers held a meeting with council members on Wednesday morning to work out a path forward for their protest.
Greens MP Tim Read also visited the camp on Wednesday to talk with Mr Thorpe about his ambitions and to call on others to join in.
Greens MP Tim Read (left) also visited Mr Thorpe (centre) on Wednesday afternoon and asked others to join the protest group
Mr Thorpe claimed Victorian Police are playing games with the group after they confiscated his tents and mattresses
‘As [I] arrived, police and council officers were pressuring the First Nations campers to extinguish their very small and harmless fire. It looked like needless harassment to me,’ Mr Read wrote online after his visit.
‘There is strength in numbers, get down to camp if you can, all are welcome.’
Mr Thorpe explained to the MP that the site was a burial ground for Aboriginal people who had been displayed in museums and that the police were ‘fighting dirty’.
‘We had these arguments with the police and the city council [back in 2006] but exactly the same arguments as today,’ he said.
‘It’s sort of a game they do, they’ve taken all of our tents and our sunshade and now they want us to put the fire out.
‘We want to at least be able to light the fire for our sunset ceremonies’.
