Opinion | George Floyd protests: Australia must look in the mirror to see its own deaths in custody

Despite comprising 2 per cent of the general adult population, indigenous Australians are 28 per cent of the prison population

This week in cities around Australia, protests have been taking place in the name of indigenous people who have died in custody

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This week in cities around Australia, protests are planned in the name of Indigenous people who have died in custody. Photo: AFP

Published: 1:00pm, 3 Jun 2020Updated: 2:10pm, 3 Jun 2020

“I can’t breathe, please! Let me up, please! I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!”

These words are not the words of George Floyd or Eric Garner. They weren’t uttered on the streets of Minneapolis or New York. These are the final words of a 26-year-old Dunghutti man who died in a prison in southeastern Sydney.

David Dungay Jnr was killed when prison officers restrained him, including with handcuffs, and pushed him face down on his bed and on the floor. One officer pushed a knee into his back. All along, Dungay was screaming that he could not breathe and could be heard gasping for air.

Dungay’s death in custody occurred in Long Bay prison during the 2015 Christmas season. It happened a short drive from an elite university, next to affluent, waterside suburbs.

But his horrific death did little to pierce this white bubble of privilege. The media barely blinked. The politicians did not emerge from their holiday retreats. None of the officers involved were disciplined or called to account.

Australia’s glass house

It is comfortable for us in Australia to throw stones at racist police violence in the United States. It is comfortable because we do not see our own glass house.

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