800 people march in Sydney protest against forced closure of remote Indigenous communities

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800 people march in Sydney protest against forced closure of remote Indigenous communities

By Brittany Ruppert
Updated

An estimated 800 people marched through Sydney city on Friday night to protest against the forced closure of remote Aboriginal communities.

The march, from Belmore Park in Haymarket to the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Redfern, comes after Tony Abbott sparked nation-wide outrage by saying that living in remote communities is "a lifestyle choice".

The Prime Minister's comments were made after the Western Australian government said it would consider closing more than 150 remote Indigenous communities.

The march also took a stand against plans for a $70-million development at The Block in Redfern. Development of the 20,000-square-metre vacant plot owned by the Aboriginal Housing Company is expected to begin this year.

However, opponents say the development, headed by AHC CEO Mick Mundine, makes no allowance for affordable housing.

"These moves to relocate Aboriginal people and break up communities are taking place Australia wide - from the APY lands in SA, the homelands of the NT, to the Block in the heart of Sydney," a Facebook event for the protest said.

"Across the continent the vicious agenda of assimilation is the same and the results will be the same - more homelessness, incarceration, children taken from families, untimely death."

The march was endorsed by the Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Indigenous Social Justice Association, Grandmothers Against Removals, Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney.

No arrests were made and protesters acted peacefully, police say.

The march briefly delayed traffic in Sydney CBD, before finishing around 7.30pm.

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An earlier version of this story was amended to correct the name of Aboriginal Housing Company CEO Mick Mundine.

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