Camp Sovereignty on 'High Alert' Due to Concerns of Another Attack

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At Melbourne’s Camp Sovereignty, there’s an air of resilience.

Days after it was attacked, Aboriginal people and allies have pitched tents around the sacred fire, vowing to protect the protest site and each other.

Supporters say about 20 new tents have been set up in the past day. People share food, others bring fuel for the generator or collect leaves for the fire. Māori women have established a large tent for healing.

“Whenever something hurts the community, it brings us all together,” said supporter Nathalie Farah, who has been at the camp every day since the attack. “There’s grief and anger and fear, but people are very resilient and very adamant to stay.”

Violence at Camp Sovereignty

On Sunday night, about 30 men dressed in black stormed Camp Sovereignty after an anti-immigration rally in Melbourne’s CBD.

Police allege Thomas Sewell, leader of the neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network (NSN), led them.

Sewell has been charged with 25 offences including violent disorder and affray after being interviewed on Tuesday over the alleged attack.

At a bail application hearing at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday, detective senior constable Saer Pascoe said members of the network held down occupants of the camp and began to kick them.

He said another person was struck with a pole, kicked and punched by members of the network.

Four injured in attack on Camp Sovereignty amid national rally response

On Sunday night, about 30 men dressed in black stormed Camp Sovereignty after an anti-immigration rally in Melbourne’s CBD. Source: SBS News

The incident injured three people, with the worst suffered by a woman who required staples in her scalp to close a wound, the court was told.

Prosecutor Jonathon McCarthy asked the magistrate to deny Sewell’s release on bail, arguing he posed an “unacceptable risk to society” because his violence had been increasing.

He was on bail when he allegedly committed the offences and police sought to revoke that conditional release.

Sewell’s lawyer, interstate solicitor Mathew Hopkins, appeared by video link to ask the magistrate to bail his client.

Magistrate Donna Bakos will hand down her bail decision on Friday afternoon.

Nathan Bull, 23, and a 20-year-old from Ardeer in Melbourne’s west have been charged with violent disorder, affray and other offences following the incident at Camp Sovereignty, but they were bailed by police on Tuesday night.

A fourth man — a 29-year-old from the seaside suburb of Rye — was arrested on Wednesday evening and charged with violent disorder, affray, unlawful assault and discharge missile.

‘We’re still on high alert’

In the days after the attack, campers reported seeing suspected NSN members scouting the site.

“In the first couple of days, we were scared there would be another attack,” Farah said. “Since then, it feels like things have settled down. But of course, we’re still on high alert.”

She said the camp now has dedicated patrols.

“We have people keeping an eye out to see if there’s anyone who is looking for trouble or someone who looks suspicious to try to keep the community safe. Especially people a bit further away from camp who are looking for bigger formations,” she said.

“The NSN has had a high presence in the city, which is very close to camp. In the last couple of days, it’s felt quite stressful.”

Police allege Thomas Sewell, leader of neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network, led about 30 black-clad men to storm Camp Sovereignty on Sunday. Source: AAP / Con Chronis

Farah said the attack left many shaken. “[Camp co-founder] Uncle Robbie [Thorpe] has been really hurt by this, but he’s very strong.”

“Uncle Robbie was so happy that people were actually talking about what the space is — it’s been ignored for quite a long time.

“If there’s a silver lining, it’s that people finally know what Camp Sovereignty is.”

What is Camp Sovereignty?

Camp Sovereignty is a First Nations protest camp located in Melbourne’s Kings Domain park.

It was established in 2006 by Krautungalung Elder Robbie Thorpe and others during the Melbourne Commonwealth Games — or what Indigenous activists termed the ‘StolenWealth Games’ — as a protest against colonisation and to draw global attention to deaths in custody, child removals and ongoing injustice.

Independent senator Lidia Thorpe — Robbie’s niece, who attended alongside her mother — recalled: “Camp Sovereignty was where we gathered to share stories, to tell the truth about what’s going on here and to inform our international visitors of the truth about what we were still dealing with as a people: death in custody, child removals, all of the effects of genocide.”

The camp was revived in 2024 after Invasion Day rallies. Ashes from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra were brought to reignite the sacred fire, which has now been burning for more than a year.

The site is also a sacred burial ground, holding the repatriated remains of unnamed First Nations people once displayed in Melbourne Museum.

Dr Jill Gallagher, Gunditjmara woman and CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, calls it a “silent protest”.

“It says we’re here. We’re not invisible. It’s a very special area,” she told SBS News. “Like the Tent Embassy, it raises awareness of the issues our people face.”

What is the ‘Black GST’ movement?

Camp Sovereignty was born from the Black GST Movement, which demands an end to genocide (‘G’), recognition of sovereignty (‘S’) and the creation of a genuine and lasting treaty (‘T’).

The campaign began in 2005, with activists arguing that these three principles are the foundation for justice and the survival of First Nations people.

“The movement believes we must focus on ending the genocide of our people, by recognising our sovereignty over these lands, by creating genuine and lasting treaty,” Uncle Robbie told the online magazine About Time.

“This is our way to collective liberation, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples alike.”

— With additional reporting by Tee Mitchell and the Australian Associated Press.