ABORIGINES FAN FLAME OF PROTEST.

By Jane Holroyd and Peter Ker

March 13, 2006 * the Age Newspaper*

IT WAS illegal to light fires across most of Victoria yesterday, but police, firefighters and City of Melbourne park rangers looked on as smoke billowed up among the trees in Kings Domain.

The smoke came from a sacred healing fire blessed by local Boonerwrung elders and lit from ashes from Canberra's Aboriginal tent embassy. It marked the start of a protest camp against what indigenous rights activists have dubbed "the Stolenwealth Games".

The camp, organised by the Black GST group, is 600 metres from Government House, where the Queen will stay after opening the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday night. The State Government and the Black GST had attempted to co-operate on a site but could not reach agreement.

Police confirmed there were no arrests at the campsite yesterday, and the fact that officers did not intervene despite the fire ban indicated the State Government has decided on a softly-softly approach for now. The group plans to camp at Kings Domain for the duration of the Games. Camp fire-keeper Robert Corowa said he hoped the Queen and Premier Steve Bracks would visit protesters. "We're inviting them because we want them to heal themselves and to become part of Aboriginal Australia." He said the Queen needed to tackle issues of compensation and repatriation for Australia's Aboriginal people.

Park rangers instructed where tents could be pitched safely (though illegally), while firefighters stopped by to make sure that the sacred fire would not become unmanageable. Senior Sergeant Bob Scarborough, said normal police patrols would be conducted in Kings Domain during the Games. He had earlier received rapturous applause from about 250 protesters when he accepted an invitation to place gum leaves on the fire.

"We've had cordial dialect with the organisers and we hope that continues," he said. "At this stage we can't see why there would be any issues but the police will continue to monitor it."
The Black GST also plans to stage a protest march through the city on Wednesday, hoping to attract a crowd of 20,000 to draw attention away from Government-sponsored events on the first day of the Games.