Australian officials warned Black Lives Matter supporters they could be arrested if they breach coronavirus restrictions to take part in public protests, as debate erupted over the country’s own indigenous history. Prime Minister Scott Morrison drew strong criticism on Thursday after he said “there was no slavery in Australia” during a discussion of the early days of British settlement, which he acknowledged was “pretty brutal.” “Slavery of indigenous, men, women and children is well documented,” said Sharman Stone, a former federal lawmaker and now politics professor at Monash University.
