JINHA

NEWS CENTER – Tens of thousands marched in Melbourne and Sydney against the Australian state's attempt to close aboriginal communities. Aboriginal women at the frontline of the fight against cultural genocide are scheduled to speak at the rallies.

The Australian state has recently attempted to impose yet another wave of forced migration, displacement and cultural genocide on aboriginal peoples, calling living in aboriginal communities "a lifestyle choice."

Aunty Jenny Munro is one of the aboriginal women leaders scheduled to speak at the rallies today. Aunty Jenny, speaking to the news website New Matilda, called the attack a continuation of cultural genocide against her people. Aunty Jenny has for several months been leading a tent embassy in Redfern, near Sydney, protesting the cultural genocide carried out by forcibly emptying aboriginal communities.

“Government’s policies have never changed in relation to our people. This racist treatment and behavor by this government and every illegal government that was ever elected or put in place in this country has got to stop," she said.

“If we want to survive into the centuries to come, changes have to be made now—drastic changes—and that goes for everything from climate change to how we engage with each other on a daily basis,” said Aunty Jenny. Longtime aboriginal woman activist Barbara Shaw is also on the slate of speakers for the rallies, which have shut down traffic in Melbourne in recent hours.

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