A member of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was arrested while protesting the police’s removal of a fence around the recently burned down Tent Embassy in Canberra. The wire fence was erected by embassy supporters because the site was a safety hazard; supporters also sought to protect the embassy from being demolished. The Australian Heritage Commission has given the Federal government permission to tear down the structure but the embassy supporters made an emergency declaration under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Act to prevent such action. The establishment of the Aboriginal Embassy on the lawns of the Parliament House was a major event in the Aboriginal rights movement, and has become a political and cultural symbol. The government has repeatedly tried to demolish the site and Heritage Minister David Kemp must now decide whether the embassy is culturally significant enough to save.
