Australian police in Sydney. Police reinforcements were flown into a remote Aboriginal community in Australia when hundreds of people rioted and attacked a police station and shops, police said.
(AFP/File) |
Police reinforcements were flown into a remote Aboriginal community in Australia when hundreds of people rioted and attacked a police station and shops, police said.
The riot erupted overnight after a young man was arrested for assault and later taken to a clinic after falling ill while in police custody, Sergeant Kim McCoomb told national radio.
"The crowds rioted and police vehicles were extensively damaged and the Aurukun police station was also damaged when the crowd attempted to gain entry," she said.
Glass doors and windows of shops and a tavern in the Cape York community of Aurukun in Australia's far northern Queensland were also smashed as up to 300 people went on the rampage, police said.
Extra police were flown in and the town was declared an emergency zone, but was calmer on Wednesday, McCoomb said.
"The current situation appears to be under control and the streets are reported to be quiet," she said. "Most people have returned to their homes at the moment.
Aboriginal activist Sam Watson said the Aurukun riot was similar to unrest on Palm Island in the same state two years ago, when locals rioted after the death of a man in police custody.
He said there had been a breakdown in trust between police and the indigenous community, and called on Queensland Premier Peter Beattie to act.
"Beattie has totally marginalised Aboriginal people by removing the department of Aboriginal affairs and sacking our minister," he said. "Aboriginal people feel so much more vulnerable."
"This latest incident on Aurukun is a direct result of this, because Aboriginal people feel they have no voice in government, they have no power, no capacity to attract government attention unless they do take direct action."
Aborigines are a minority in Australia after more than two centuries of European settlement, numbering about 470,000 people out of a total of 20 million.
Many live in squalid outback camps, where unemployment, alcohol dependency and lawlessness are rife.
