Vic: PM cursed by bone pointing possum woman

AAP General News (Australia)
04-21-2004
Vic: PM cursed by bone pointing possum woman

Prime Minister JOHN HOWARD says he'll deal calmly with a protest in the form of an
Aboriginal curse against him.

Mr HOWARD was cursed by an Aboriginal woman known only as MOOPAR as he left a Liberal
party function in Colac, in Victoria's south-west yesterday.

Ousted ATSIC chief GEOFF CLARK and other protesters watched as the woman pointed a
small bone at the Prime Minister.

He responded by smiling and waving before getting into his car.

The protest came as Mr HOWARD made a pre-election visit to the marginal Victorian seat
of Corangamite, less than a week after scrapping the peak Aboriginal organisation the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission.

Cultural restrictions prevented MOOPAR from speaking to the media but Mr CLARK has
told reporters the curse was a message to Mr HOWARD to listen to the Aboriginal community.

AAP RTV clm/dk/lma

KEYWORD: HOWARD CURSE (COLAC)

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