The leader of a radical Aboriginal group which wants to decolonise Australia says young indigenous activists could soon resort to terrorism.
Wayne Wharton claimed the federal government’s failure to act on indigenous issues such as the Australia Day debate and the Uluru Statement could lead to violence.
‘Malcolm Turnbull’s statements in the past three weeks are close to inciting [the use of] guns and [activists] taking up terrorism. Some of our young people are not far off it with the things he’s said,’ Mr Wharton said, according to The Australian.
He said there was no guarantee the expected protests at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April would remain peaceful.
Wayne Wharton, the leader of a radical Aboriginal group which wants to decolonise Australia, says young indigenous activists could soon resort to terrorism
Mr Wharton claimed the federal government’s failure to act on indigenous issues such as the Australia Day debate and the Uluru Statement could lead to violence
‘If a policeman or a white racist comes for me, I am taking justice into my own hands. I’m not afraid of jail… we won’t go near innocent people but there’s no justice in the white system and we need to stand up,’ he said.
Mr Wharton said Prince Charles would be targeted by protesters during the Games, but there would be no attempt to physically harm him, the paper reported.
The activist has previously said Australia is a ‘crime scene’ and compared the condition Indigenous people are forced to live in as similar to France under the rule of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Mr Wharton is the leader of the Brisbane Aboriginal-Sovereign Embassy, a close ally of the controversial protest group Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance [WAR].
The group, which has previously made calls to ‘Abolish Australia, not just Australia Day,’ is expected to set up a campsite outside the Games site Carrara.
WAR last month defended comments made by ‘Invasion Day’ protest organiser Tarneen Onus-Williams, who said she hoped Australia ‘f***ing burns to the ground’.
Mr Wharton is the leader of the Brisbane Aboriginal-Sovereign Embassy, a close ally of the controversial protest group Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance
Mr Wharton talks on his phone outside the Musgrave Park Cultural Centre in Brisbane in 2014
‘F*** Australia. F*** your land theft, your child stealing and your state sanctioned murders. F*** your governments, your military and your police,’ WAR wrote in a statement in response to the controversial comments.
‘F*** your concentration camps dressed up as correctional facilities and immigration detention centres. F*** your economy, your greed and your cult of the almighty dollar.’
Ms Onus-Williams later refused to apologise for the comment, which she said was meant to be a metaphor.
‘It was…not actually a statement to be taken literally. I just want everything, all the governments to fall apart, because our people are dying and nobody cares and the whole system needs to change,’ she said.
WAR last month defended comments made by ‘Invasion Day’ protest organiser Tarneen Onus-Williams