Woomera 2002

Woomera is a notorious mandatory detention centre in South Australia, a particularly arid and inhospitable part of the desert. In 2002, about one thousand people gathered at Woomera to protest about the Government’s policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers. When the protestors erect a temporary camp two hundred metres from the centre, the federal police arrive to dismantle their efforts; when they meet resistance, a scuffle ensues. Despite this, the protestors make it over to the interior camp fence and talk to the detainees, who are clearly perturbed and distressed by their ongoing imprisonment. A chaotic scene ensues with detainees attempting to escape, aided by the protestors, as the police try to stop the action. This locally made work is a telling document about a particularly contentious chapter in Australian history that continues to divide opinions about this policy.