if the hat fits

I was stunned recently to hear objections by the Police that members of the Yuendumu had fled the violence there "in the midst of a police investigation".

WTF?

Since when to police have the right to tell you to stay in a location where you're personal safety is threatened?

In fact since when does anyone in Australia have the right to tell other Australians that they can't move from one town to another? I don't recall a state of martial law being imposed (in which case it would be the army making the calls, not the police).

The only viewpoint which this sort of statement can fit into is one where all of the indigenous people should be rounded up and kept on reservations.

So the police just expected them to stay where they are supposed to stay and remain in a place which is in the midst of a violent clash? Can anyone imagine the outrage if white people had been fleeing some sort of similar terror and the police had said the same things?

Clearly the old colonial ways are still at work.

I had better be careful what I say, as it seems that even a Magistrate can't buck this informal (and probably denied) system and not be punished for it.

The old colonialism seems to be alive and well in Australia