Readers are warned that this article contains references to and images of deceased First Nations persons.
On Friday 14th February, family, community, and allies gathered in TJ Hickey Park in Waterloo to commemorate the death of Kamilaroi teenager TJ Hickey, and demand justice for his family.
This year marks 21 years since 17-year old TJ Hickey was killed from being impaled on a fence after police vehicles had pursued him on his push bike. His death sparked widespread, highly publicised protests and, 21 years on, the Hickey family have still not received justice. The coronial inquest failed to find the police guilty, and fresh calls for an independent inquiry in 2020 continue to be ignored by NSW Parliament. Organised by the Hickey Family and Indigenous Social Justice Association, these yearly rallies continue to demand justice for TJ Hickey as well as a proper investigation into his death.
The rally began with an Acknowledgement of Country from Uncle David Bell, a Wiradjuri Elder. He introduced Auntie Gail Hickey, TJ Hickey’s mother, and spoke to her tireless fight over the last 21 years to find justice for her son.
Muruwari and Budjiti man, Bruce Shillingsworth, echoed cries for accountability and called to “bring back the real lore of the land.” He spoke to the failure of institutions to hold those responsible for First Nations deaths accountable, while calling out people within the legal system who fail to use their power to stand up for First Nations justice. He ended by repeating the powerful words, “the perpetrators of evil need to stop.”
Next speaker was UTS law professor, Thalia Anthony, who first recounted a story of Redfern police painting over a mural by Scott Marsh of a burning police car with the words “to Hickey” on the side during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. She proudly shared that it was UTS students who had donated the memorial plaque, but that the council still refuses to display it in Redfern Community Centre. Similarly decrying the many failures of the legal system, she expressed the need to pursue justice from the ground up, and radically overhaul the current system. She acknowledged her role within the legal system, noting that as an educator it is her job to make change by influencing younger generations to resist these systems and stand up for First Nations people.
Kooma Murri activist Uncle Wayne ‘CoCo’ Whorton delivered a heartfelt plea to protect First Nations communities; to stand up to the institutions, governments and businesses that time and time again fail to deliver justice and equality, and end our complicity in the suffering. Speaking to his family’s experiences of mistreatment by the legal and carceral system, he expressed that Aboriginal people are “still at war,” and there is not a single family whose lives have not been touched by the injustice of the system. He continued the encouragement to stand against oppressive systems, proclaiming community as the antidote to the systemic injustices and violence perpetrated by the state.
As the march began, Greens MP Jenny Leong shared that she had had delivered a speech in parliament the previous day calling on the NSW government to acknowledge TJ Hickey’s death and deliver justice for both the Hickey family and all First Nations families who have suffered at the hands of police and the so-called justice system.
Through the rain, the rally marched onwards through Redfern and towards the police station. Chants of “too many coppers, not enough justice” rang through the streets. As community and family marched down the road with posters and t-shirts bearing TJ’s face, it was clear that despite the immense barriers and refusal of the police and government to listen to First Nations communities, the fight for justice for TJ Hickey will never stop.
We echo Gail Hickey’s calls upon the NSW Government to reopen the inquiry into her son’s death, issue an apology and end all Indigenous deaths at the hands of police and the carceral system. To this day, no one has been held accountable for TJ Hickey’s death.
