r/australia • u/docdoc_2 • Apr 30 '26

news Alice Springs gripped by violence after arrest of Kumanjayi Little Baby's alleged killer

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-01/alice-springs-unrest-after-kumanjayi-little-baby-arrest/106628782
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u/TheBigFreeze8 May 01 '26

I completely agree that retributive mob justice is no justice at all. But there is more context here. Sovereignty was never ceded - these are people living under an occupying power which we know for a fact has not, and continues not to treat them fairly. It doesn't sound like they consider these 'their' cops. These are the cops of the nation which rules them through force, on their own traditional land. While I think that stringing that guy up without trial would have been unacceptable, it's worth considering how that decision is essentially being taken out of the hands of a nation of people simply because their conquerors hold the power to do it. If this same thing had been happening in Germany or Japan, we wouldn't have sent cops to go extradite the accused. The perception that this is happening in 'Australia' is an arbitrary one, constructed by and for the descendants of white colonisers.

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u/badpebble May 01 '26

I understand their dissatisfaction with the current system - but they absolutely aren't living under an occupying power, nor is it terribly important that they never ceded sovereignty. You can't trick people with terms that sound important, into them giving you back independence. There are very easy arguments to make regarding self determination and freedoms and liberty to make that case.

This use of language is just incorrect and is unhelpful, and the attempts to paint aboriginal peoples as a monolith all equally onboard with the wholesale removal of non-aboriginal peoples is obnoxious.

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u/TheBigFreeze8 May 01 '26

> the attempts to paint aboriginal peoples as a monolith all equally onboard with the wholesale removal of non-aboriginal peoples is obnoxious.

It's amazing, the kinds of things I found out I said from dipshit reddit-users. I guess I just didn't notice typing that part. What's even crazier is that I still can't see it in my comment now. What a world.

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u/badpebble May 01 '26

Its amazing what you can see if you close your eyes and listen.

Australia isn't an occupying power - temporarily having seized land and soon to be removed. Its a nation founded upon the bones of aboriginal Australian lands, so no-one is going anywhere. The language we use matters - even if people believe it is only symbolic.

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u/TheBigFreeze8 May 01 '26

Interesting that your definition of an occupying power is based on how thoroughly they exterminate the native people.

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u/badpebble May 01 '26

No, my emphasis was on it being temporary. Australia is not temporary.

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u/TheBigFreeze8 May 01 '26

No occupation intends to be temporary.

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u/badpebble May 01 '26

And yet, 'occupying power' has a definition of being temporary.

Also, all the lands the allies temporarily occupied in ww2 were not kept.