Camp Sovereignty activist traumatised after alleged assault at Melbourne protest site

Activists from Melbourne's Camp Sovereignty say they have been deeply traumatised after a member of their group was assaulted at the Indigenous protest site.

On Sunday night, Ash Ni Mara, 37, was allegedly attacked by two strangers attempting to extinguish the campfire.

“I’m feeling pretty shattered and scattered and quite bruised,” said the Gunai, Gunditjmara and Palawa person.

The attack occurred at the First Nations protest site, Camp Sovereignty, in Melbourne. It’s the second time within 12 months that people at Camp Sovereignty have allegedly been attacked.

Ash told the ABC that the female perpetrator entered the site filming on her phone, while the male started to pull pieces of the wood out of the sacred fire and throw them around.

"I was sitting with one of our sisters who was pregnant ... and one of our aunties who is elderly and has some mobility issues, so I got up to respond,” Ash said.

“I went up to him and said, ‘what are you doing’ and he said it was an illegal fire.”

Ash said they were then dragged six metres before being held in a headlock and repeatedly hit.

Ash was treated on site by paramedics who checked them for concussion and minor facial injuries.

The two perpetrators fled on foot before the police arrived.

Ash is known as a fire protector, a volunteer who maintains the continuous fire at Camp Sovereignty.

The camp is located in Melbourne’s CBD, in the Kings Domain parklands.

It started in 2006 as a protest against the Commonwealth Games. In 2024 the sacred flame that sits at the centre of the site was reignited, using ashes transported from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra.

It’s a sacred and significant site for First Nations people, and is where the remains of 38 Indigenous people were buried after being repatriated from the Museum of Victoria.

The site is maintained by volunteers as a part-protest and part-vigil, caring for the country where ancestors are buried.

Founder says attack “very disturbing”

Camp Sovereignty founder Krautungalung elder Robbie Thorpe said he was constantly worrying about the site.

“To be woken up in the middle of the night and be told that people have been assaulted is a real concern,” he said.

Mr Thorpe said the fire is an “important part of Aboriginal culture”.

“It’s symbolic of our law and of our culture … it’s kept alive permanently, [and] this is the way we connect with our ancestors and culture,” he said.

Mr Thorpe explained when the fire is desecrated “it’s really disturbing”.

"We don’t really know where this violence is coming from so that’s a worry, otherwise we get on famously with everyone that comes here.”

Mr Thorpe said they are going to think of what security the camp has in place going forward.

Police still searching for alleged perpetrators

Superintendent Zorka Dunstan told the ABC that police are considering the attack to be racially motivated.

“At this stage we potentially are, but will confirm that once we understand the motive,” Superintendent Dunstan said.

Police patrols were unable to locate the offenders, and are currently canvassing CCTV within the area.

“We aren’t sure who they are at this point in time, but we have our Melbourne CIU investigating,” she said.

Superintendent Dunstan said police are likely to lay assault charges.

“Once we determine what’s applicable or what's appropriate we will make those known,” she said.

Second attack within 12 months at the site

On Wednesday, in Victoria’s County Court, four men charged over last year’s attack on Camp Sovereignty pleaded guilty.

Jaeden Johnson, Zack Dewaard, Blake Cathcart and Timothy Lutze pleaded guilty to one charge each of violent disorder, with Johnson and Lutze also pleading guilty to committing an indictable offence while on bail.

The men have all been associated with the National Socialist Network (NSN), a now disbanded, far right group.

The court heard that on August 31, after attending a “March for Australia” protest, the men were part of a wider group who stormed the camp, carrying sticks and flagpoles, and advancing despite being told to leave.

The men are accused of shouting racist and sexist slurs, and attacking individual camp members in groups of two or three.

A number of people were injured in the incident, one suffering a fractured nose while others had cuts and bruising.

The men’s lawyers argued they should receive a non-custodial sentence.