Aboriginal activists are protesting outside state parliaments around Australia today, calling for a Royal Commission into the police mistreatment of indigenous offenders.
The move comes after the recent death of an Aboriginal teenager, Thomas 'TJ' Hickey, who indigenous leaders say died after being pursued by police in the inner Sydney suburb of Redfern.
One of the protest leaders, Lyall Munro says T-J's case is not unique, and urgent action is needed to prevent what he regards as the widespread mistreatment of Aboriginal offenders by the police.
Mr Munro says this could begin with a Royal Commission into the issue in New South Wales, with a subsequent inquiry at a federal level.
"I think that with the political atmosphere that's besetting the state at the moment, particularly with regard to the NSW Labor government, I think they would be rather naive to ignore our request because we're not going to go away. We're going to continue these rolling demonstrations until such time as our demands are met. These are demands that come from the Aboriginal community and our demands have been supported by Aboriginal communities right throughout the country".
Mr Munro says a similar march on Federal parliament will take place on the 24th of June.
