Clinton Pryor's long walk for justice

Mr Pryor – who left Perth in early September 2016 – has been in Bairnsdale this week for NAIDOC Week celebrations and is expected to arrive in Towamba early next week before taking several days off his walk to travel to the Snowy Mountains to see the end point of the Bundian Way.

He will return to Towamba early the following week to speak with Towamba Public School students and meet members of the community where he will gather support for his campaign for justice and change for indigenous people.  

The 26-year-old Whadjuk man – who grew up in indigenous communities in Carnarvon, Halls Creek and Kununurra in WA – originally started his walk as a protest against the then WA government’s announcement in November 2014 that it would forcibly close of up to 150 remote communities.

After the death of his father when he was only 16, Mr Pryor experienced homelessness, living on the streets for two years before he got his life back on track with a renewed passion to fight for a better deal for indigenous people.

He feared that if the government cut off funds and services from the communities, hundreds of Aboriginal people would be left homeless, eventually drifting into towns where they would lose their spiritual connection to the land and succumb to alcohol, drugs, petrol-sniffing and poverty.  

Since starting his Walk for Justice almost 10 months ago, Mr Pryor’s campaign has broadened and he now wants to meet with Mr Turnbull and Sir Peter Cosgrove to push his people’s case for a treaty, express concerns over the high rate of indigenous incarceration and seek the better protection of sacred sites.

After leaving the Bega Valley, Mr Pryor will walk to Redfern in Sydney before heading to Canberra. His walk is attracting a growing following on social media.