Renae Isaacs-Guthridge, a respected Indigenous academic, has shared a harrowing account of a bomb threat at the Invasion Day rally in Perth, Western Australia.
Renae Isaacs-Guthridge saw a homemade bomb land in front of her and her loved ones during the Invasion Day rally in Perth on January 26. She described the device as a 'sock-filled explosive' containing volatile chemicals, nails and metal ball bearings.
It's alleged that police initially brushed off concerns after a bystander approached a police officer in the crowd to alert him to the bomb. Renae Isaacs-Guthridge said it took 40 minutes for the police to evacuate the crowd.
Renae Isaacs-Guthridge was critical of the police response, saying, 'He brushed her off, didn't take her seriously, and essentially just ignored her.' She also criticized community leaders and politicians for not speaking out after the incident.
The device did not detonate, despite a fuse allegedly being lit, and the incident was later declared an act of terror – the first in Western Australia's history. A Perth man, Liam Hall, has been charged with engaging in a terrorist act over the incident.
Renae Isaacs-Guthridge pointed out that the lack of action from community leaders and politicians after the incident was particularly stark in comparison to the national response to the Bondi terror attack in NSW a month earlier.
'I understand no one died (in Perth). I get that, but (if the device had detonated as intended) I shouldn't be sitting here and talking to you today,' she said. 'I and my girls and mum and my sister, we should be dead because it landed right in front of us.'
Renae Isaacs-Guthridge called for a consistent response to incidents, regardless of the race of the intended victims. She said, 'Because we were an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander crowd, there is an underlying hate against us, and so we're not taken as seriously.'
Incidents of racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia are not random, Renae Isaacs-Guthridge said. She claimed that such incidents are 'structured, funded and politically enabled.'
Renae Isaacs-Guthridge has spoken out against the lack of action from police and the broader community following the bombing threat. She believes that this incident highlights the underlying hatred and violence faced by Indigenous Australians.
'I saw what appeared to be a child's toy land in front of me,' Renae Isaacs-Guthridge said. 'I didn't know, obviously, that it was a sock-filled explosive device built for carnage.'
Liam Hall, the man charged over the terrorist attack, is believed to have been self-radicalised and acted alone, police said. Police have defended taking nine days to declare the incident a terrorist act, saying investigators needed to gather evidence.
WA Indigenous Academic Blasts Police Response to Bomb Threat at Invasion Day Rally
Renae Isaacs-Guthridge's account highlights the ongoing struggle faced by Indigenous Australians in their fight for justice and equal treatment under the law.