Why this Aboriginal elder does not think Australian law should apply to him – as a warrant for his arrest is issued

A Hobart magistrate has issued an arrest warrant for an Aboriginal activist who refused to attend court on a protest charge because he does not consider himself an Australian citizen.

Jim Everett-puralia meenamatta, 81, said he had no intention of appearing before a “colonial court”, claiming it “has no jurisdiction whatsoever over the Aboriginal people who protect our land”.

“We never agreed to be citizens,” Everett-puralia meenamatta said.

The activist was arrested in March and charged with trespassing during an anti-forestry protest in the Styx Valley of the Giants in the south of the country. Tasmania.

His case was referred to the Hobart District Court on Monday but he chose not to appear, prompting Magistrate Glenn Hay to issue an arrest warrant for the 81-year-old.

Jim Everett-puralia meenamatta (pictured), 81, said he had no intention of appearing in a ‘colonial court’, claiming it has ‘no jurisdiction whatsoever over the Aboriginal people who protect our land’

He claims he is ‘ready’ to be arrested after refusing to appear in court on Monday

“There was no need to appear, the court has no jurisdiction over the Aboriginal people who protect our land.”

Everett-puralia meenamatta, who plans to continue protests in the coming months, said he was not fazed by the prospect of jail or a fine.

“They’ll catch up to me before I’ve done much else… or they won’t,” Everett-puralia meenamatta said.

“I’ll probably get a fine and then continue what I’m doing and keep building this issue.

‘There’s no point in arguing with a colonial government and expecting them to listen the first time you jump up and down about it. I’ll keep pushing.’

Forestry Tasmania, the state’s public forestry agency, was logging in the area at the time of Everett-puralia meenamatta’s arrest.

As part of his bail conditions, he is banned from entering Forestry Tasmania’s permanent timber production area, which covers more than 800,000 hectares of public forest in the state.

Still, Everett-puralia meenamatta said he would continue to protest indigenous logging.

“I have every right to go there and protect my country, and they have no jurisdiction to stop me,” he said.

“They will have to take my arm in court.”

He said he would refuse to plead before “a colonial court” and instead tell the magistrate they were insisting on his sovereignty.

‘They will do whatever they want. “I could be fined for contempt of court, it could be anything, it doesn’t matter,” he said.

“We will be arrested until this issue is raised across the country and the government is forced to address the citizenship issue.”

Veteran environmental activist Bob Brown, whose organization organized the protest in March, went to court and described the situation as a legal test case.

“A court is ignoring the sovereignty of Jim Everett, an Aboriginal man who enjoys such enormous respect in the First Nations community,” Brown told reporters.

As part of his bail conditions, Everett-puralia meenamatta is banned from entering Forestry Tasmania’s permanent timber production land, which makes up more than 800,000 hectares of public forest in the state.

But he said he would continue to protest indigenous logging and claimed the prospect of jail time did not upset him

“Every similar nation in the world has a treaty with its original people where people have invaded and established courts. Not this country.’

Tasmanian Aboriginal Center campaign director Nala Mansell has called for the trespassing charge to be dropped.

“The power white people have over Aboriginal people, our lives, culture and cultural responsibilities must have some flexibility,” she said in a statement.

“White people can govern and manage themselves, but their laws should not apply to Aboriginal people.”

Everett-puralia meenamatta, a pakana plangermairreenner man who has written poetry, plays, political and academic papers and short stories, has visited many remote Aboriginal communities.

“If you understand what being Aboriginal is, it means being part of a country,” he said. “If you hurt the country, you hurt our community.

‘A lot of research has been done into the generational trauma resulting from the destruction of our country.