‘Stop the forced closure of Aboriginal communities in Australia' is the message being shouted by the Bay of Plenty Peoples Network.

The network, joined by students of Te Wharekura o Tauranga Moana, gathered on The Strand this afternoon to protest against decisions made by the Federal and Western Australian governments.

Members of the Bay of Plenty People's Network were joined by students of Te Wharekura o Tauranga Moana to protest against the forced closure of Aboriginal communities in Australia. Photo/Video: David Tauranga.

It is one of a number of rallies taking place across Australia and New Zealand, as well as England, North America, Hawaii, Hong Kong and Germany.

The Network's spokesman Martin Stewart says today's protest was to show solidarity with the Aboriginal communities in Western Australia.

'This is because the Abbott government and the Western Australian [state] government want to close 150 communities in Australia and I see that as totally useless,” says Martin.

In November 2014, W.A. Premier Colin Barnett announced he would close up to 150 remote Aboriginal communities as the state could not afford to pay for essential services like power and electricity.

His comments were in response to the Federal Government's decision to stop subsidising services in the middle of 2015, putting the financial responsibility on individual state governments.

Speaking to ABC Radio in March of 2015, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said: 'What we can't do is endlessly subsidise lifestyle choices if those lifestyle choices are not conducive to the kind of full participation in Australian society that everyone should have.”

'The government in Australia call this kind of living a life style choice,” says Martin, 'When it is actually the connection to the land that the Aboriginal people have.

'Without living in their tribal lands as they should be able to do, the people end up losing their culture and heritage.”

Martin says the aboriginal people, like many other cultures around the world, have already been through 'more than enough genocide, ethnic cleansing and slavery”.

More than anything, believes Martin, the aboriginal people 'need to be heard”.

'The people need representation and respect,” he explains. 'Too long indigenous people all over the world have been given rights to the lands then kept as a side show, or allowed seat in government but never allowed to have real influence.

'So in solidarity we stand up so the tangata whenua can claim what is rightfully theirs.”