The Aboriginal Tent Embassy's "caretaker and protector" has avoided being convicted for assaulting a woman who sought to evict custodians from the site.
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Special Magistrate Anthony Hopkins handed Nioka Coe an 18-month good behaviour order without conviction earlier this month.
Coe, who previously admitted to charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and property damage, is the daughter of Billy Craigie, one of the embassy's founding members.
The embassy site, where Coe has lived on and off for the past 30 years, was originally set up opposite Parliament House in 1972.
"These offences were committed at a time when you were the caretaker of the ATE, in the context of a long-running dispute about access to the site," Dr Hopkins said in Galambany Circle Sentencing Court remarks published on Friday.
"During this dispute, the victim of your assault sought to evict you and other long-term custodians, repeatedly encroached on the site and breached protocol that you saw as your responsibility to uphold."
According to the remarks, the victim and another woman entered the embassy site on January 5 of last year, when Coe disputed their right to be there.
While being filmed, Coe "punched [the victim] multiple times in the face" before throwing the other woman's phone on the ground and breaking it.
Dr Hopkins said the assaulted woman had signed an "eviction notice" a year earlier.
She was reportedly seeking to evict all current embassy custodians, "claiming the authority of the United Sovereign Nations of Terra Australis".
Among other things, the eviction notice alleged "current occupiers" had engaged in identity fraud and misappropriation of funds.
Coe told a pre-sentence report author she had had negative interactions with the assaulted woman since 2021 and had asked her to leave on numerous occasions.
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"You explained that the Australian Federal Police do not generally enter the site of the ATE," Dr Hopkins said.
"This leaves a gap with respect to the power to remove those who enter the ATE in breach of cultural protocol."
In ultimately choosing not to convict Coe, the special magistrate factored in extenuating circumstances including personal and emotional stress.
"I accept that your offence involved a reaction to and loss of self-control in the face of what can be understood as repeated wrongful acts and insults," Dr Hopkins said, noting this did not excuse her actions.
He said Coe had committed her life to the cause of First Nations people, land rights, self-determination, and addressing systemic injustices.
Tim Piccione
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
Tim is a journalist with the Canberra Times covering the ACT courts. He came to the nation's capital via the Daily Advertiser in Wagga. Contact: tim.piccione@canberratimes.com.au.
