BOORLOO PROTESTERS DEMAND BAN ON ALL-WHITE JURIES

Greens MP Brad Pettitt, Noongar Elder Ben Taylor and Deaths in Custody Watch Committee Deputy Chair Desmond Blurton at the rally out side Parliament. Credit: Supplied.

Scores of people gathered outside Western Australia’s state parliament yesterday to rally in support of a ban on all-white juries in deaths in custody trials.

Protesters handed over a petition with more than 3,000 signatures in support of an urgent review to find solutions to address structural racism in the justice system.

Rally organiser and Deaths in Custody Watch Committee Deputy Chair Desmond Blurton said First Nations people deserved a say in the justice system.

“If the Government would like to give our Aboriginal people a real voice, then ban all-white juries,” he said.

“There needs to be accountability within their systems.”

No government ministers attended to receive the petition, but Greens MP Brad Pettitt was present to accept it. He tabled it in Parliament this morning.

“The State Government’s indifference to the human rights emergencies Banksia Hill and Unit 18, as well as Roebourne Prison, has held our attention recently, but the problems with our justice system, which jails First Nations people at one of the highest rates in the world, start well before sentencing,” Mr Pettitt said in a statement.

“It is very clear that we need a lot more First Nations perspectives and input, and the will to implement alternatives to colonial-era attitudes in WA’s policing, courts, and prisons.”

Listen to an interview with Mr Blurton.