Thomas Mayo blames disturbing Broome images of children tied up with cables on ‘Facebook community pages’

Voice campaigner Thomas Mayo has blamed community Facebook pages for “stirring up hatred towards black children” and inciting a disturbing incident in Broome.

Images of three young children sitting on cement with their hands tied with cables sent shockwaves across the country on Wednesday.

Local shopkeeper Mat Radelic, 45, was seen standing with crying children – a girl and two boys aged six, seven and eight – outside a house in Conkerberry Road, Cable Beach.

Radelic, who runs a small air conditioning company, stood by the distraught and crying children until police officers arrived to arrest him.

Initially called to investigate the children’s alleged invasion, police later charged the 45-year-old with three counts of aggravated assault.

Mayo expressed his anguish on Wednesday and placed blame squarely on community groups that discuss crimes and concerns in the local area.

“In towns like Broome with high levels of youth crime, community Facebook pages stir up hatred against black children,” he said.

‘They are ignorant of poverty and racism. Their calls for “tough on crime” policies, heeded by governments, perpetuate the problem.

‘This is the result. Our children are not safe.’

Mayo was a leading advocate for an Indigenous Voice in Parliament, arguing it would improve the lives of First Nations in Australia and encourage indigenous youth.

He has promised to continue advocating for the implementation of the Uluru Declaration from the Heart, but not for constitutional recognition.

“I won’t do it as long as I live,” he admitted. ‘But I do think that other people will, because we see in the poll results that young people voted Yes.

“Our children are receiving a different education about the truth of our colonial past and why we have these disparities in the present.”

Voice critic Senator Lidia Thorpe made a similar point to Mr Mayo, instead blaming “politicians who stoke fear and hatred towards our babies for political reasons”.

“This is what your words lead to,” he said.

“This depends as much on you as it does on this despicable man.”

Greens senator Dorinda Cox also criticized the disturbing images with an emotional statement, urging voters to “confront such images in a spirit of truth-telling.”

“No matter how we deal with this, this is how we heal and move forward,” he said.

“We can never accept that children as young as six are humiliated, having their tiny wrists tied and left crying in the sun.

‘Children are always harmed by this type of behavior. There is no justification for instilling terror in young children.’

Locals told Daily Mail Australia that the incident, which has been widely condemned, was a symptom of a city pushed beyond its limits and overrun by youth crime.

While the children featured in the shocking images are not accused of any crime, Broome residents cited years of living with robberies, robberies, carjackings, arson attacks and rampaging teenage gangs.

Labor MP Marion Scrymgour, whose electorate covers a large part of the Northern Territory, recently said children and teenagers who commit crimes should be treated with “tough love” to curb their offending.

“A little tough love never hurt anyone, and I think that’s what needs to go into this equation,” he said, referring to reports of children as young as 10 committing serious crimes.

‘We have to stop thinking we’re dealing with little angels here… When you look at those photos they’re laughing and smiling, they think it’s a joke, and it’s not, because they could have an accident and one of them could kill me.’