Hundreds have rallied in Brisbane to call for justice for Elijah Doughty, the Kalgoorlie teen whose killer was found not guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced to three years in prison for dangerous driving.
The crowd heard from a number of speakers at King George Square in CBD, including activists Adrian Burragubba, Carly Wallace and Sam Watson, before marching through the city.
“Aboriginal people across Queensland are absolutely disgusted with the decision by the Western Australian courts to only convict this driver of a traffic offence and sentence him to a very light three years jail,” veteran activist Uncle Sam Watson told NITV News.
Brisbane supporters rally in solidarity with the family of Elijah Doughty. Source: NITV
“[It’s] totally unacceptable. He’s going to be out within a matter of months, yet young Elijah is dead.
“We need to mobilise nationally. We may need to even have a national day of action there at Kalgoorlie.
“Kalgoorlie could become ground zero for a whole new campaign around Aboriginal justice issues.”
Black Comedy actor Steven Oliver was amongst the crowd, and told NITV News the Brisbane community was outraged.
Anti-mining activist Adrian Burragubba speaks at the Brisbane rally on Wednesday night. Source: NITV
“I think it's important to show those numbers and show that strength and to show that we're tired of this, we've been tired of it for ages,” he said.
“It has to stop soon because something's going to break.”
Another Brisbane rally is planned for 5pm next Wednesday at King George Square.
Young Yuggera protestors show their support. Source: NITV
