Key facts
- Indigenous community members felt ignored by authorities after an alleged attempted terror attack at an Invasion Day rally in Perth.
- A homemade bomb was thrown into a crowd of 2,000 people on January 26.
- One witness stated she and her family 'should be dead' as the device landed in front of them.
- Rally organisers had warned police of potential threats from far-right individuals prior to the event.
- Former Indigenous affairs minister Ken Wyatt stated the referendum defeat emboldened racist commentary and actions.
Indigenous community members who witnessed an alleged attempted terror attack at Perth's Invasion Day rally told a federal inquiry that they felt dismissed and ignored by authorities. Western Australia police are investigating the incident, which occurred on January 26 when a homemade bomb was allegedly thrown into a crowd of 2,000 people. Liam Alexander Hall has been charged with terrorism offences.
During a hearing in Perth, academic Renae Isaacs‑Guthridge recounted seeing the device land in front of her, stating, 'I shouldn’t be sitting here and talking to you today. I and my girls, and mum and my sister, we should be dead.' She expressed a belief that the community was not taken as seriously due to underlying hate against Indigenous people and noted a lack of condemnation from non-Indigenous leaders.
Rally organiser Fabian Yarran informed the inquiry that they had received a tip-off about potential threats from the Nazi party and had alerted the police and state MPs. However, he stated that police did not meet with organisers beforehand and did not initially communicate the nature of the threat or the bomb to them, causing fear and confusion.
Former Indigenous affairs minister Ken Wyatt also testified, suggesting that the defeat of the referendum on a constitutional voice to parliament had normalised racism and online hate, emboldening such commentary and actions. He called for the inquiry to be equally funded and supported as a royal commission into antisemitism, with a view to national rollout.