On 30 June 2020, the Victorian government announced a lockdown of specific hotspot suburbs in an effort to control the spread of COVID19 cases. Less than a week later, on 5 July 2020, the Victorian premier Dan Andrews announced a 'hard lockdown' of 9 public housing estates. The residents in these housing estates in the suburbs of Flemington and North Melbourne, were effectively placed in detention in their own homes, without warning, for up to 24 days with a large armed police presence.
In today's show, we first hear from Tigist Kebede, counsellor, and volunteer at AMSSA Youth Connect about what was happening in the housing estates after the lockdown was announced. We then hear from Tamar Hopkins, lawyer and researcher in the area of police accountability and racial profiling, about the history of policing of the residents in the affected suburbs.
Please be aware that this show was recorded at a time when the residents in these estates were in lockdown and the situation continues to evolve rapidly.
Please also be aware that today’s show contains descriptions of police brutality. If this type of content is a trigger for you, please contact LifeLine on 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au.
