Incredible #BlackLivesMatter panel hosted by @MelbLawSchool - some of the most incredible thinkers and advocates for justice @amymcquire @AJ_Whittaker Eddie Cubillo @LarissaBehrendt @GeorgeNewhouse

We never talk about the perpetrator of Black deaths in custody @amymcquire and so by implication Aboriginal people are seen as responsible for their own deaths.

No police or prison officer has nern held accountable for any of the hundreds of Black deaths in custody

If four Aboriginal men had put their weight on a white man in prison causing his death they would all be sent to jail, @GeorgeNewhouse on ‘what passes for justice’ reflecting on David Dungay Jr’s tragic death #ICantBreathe

It requires coverage that is sustained and on the ground,says @AJ_Whittaker on what it will take to keep #BlackLivesMatter in the public consciousness. But ‘the window of public discourse is changing’ and we’re having conversations we couldn’t have had I. 2020

‘Families shouldn’t have to fight this hard to get coverage’ @amymcquire both on the struggle of families to have the deaths of their loved ones covered in the media, and then the lack of scrutiny of the Coronial inquest itself and the lack of action that too often follows

‘ There’s a lack of scrutiny and accountability in the media says @amymcquire and for me that’s why we need to build up a strong Black media because it’s us who will be at every inquest ‘

There needs to be recognition that the legal system has failed our people. They need to accept their complicity in this system. I don’t say this lightly but it is an affront to the rule of law, there is an extreme injustice going on - Eddie Cubillo

‘The profession needs to look at itself’ the basic advocacy, submissions and reports is not enough. - Eddie Cubillo on the legal profession

. @GeorgeNewhouse lawyers need to accept that’s there’s discrimination at all levels of government & legal system. And we need to either fund Aboriginal legal services properly or lawyers need to do their job and step up even when there’s no money in it.

‘I think it’s kicking the can down the road’ - Eddie Cubillo on the government’s proposed justice targets

‘We’re not measuring the right things. We measure how many Aboriginal people have diabetes but not how much longer Aboriginal ppl wait in Emegency, or how many more times they’re stopped by police or strip searched or other indicators of racism’ - @GeorgeNewhouse

The exciting thing for me about defunding police, says @AJ_Whittaker, is where that money can then be invested. It’s takes capacity away from police to do harm and invests in communities being able to do their own healing

Media reportage obscures police and prison violence, says @amymcquire. We also need to have a conversation about innocence! Mob are assumed to be guilty, and mob are told to plead guilty. We need to air these unspoken assumption.