NT coroner to deliver long-awaited findings about police shooting of Kumanjayi Walker
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name and image of a person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
Kumanjayi Walker was killed in the remote Aboriginal community of Yuendumu, 300 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs, on November 9, 2019.
Kumanjayi Walker, 19, was fatally shot by Zachary Rolfe in Yuendumu in 2019.
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Supplied
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The Warlpiri-Luritja man's death, and the subsequent prosecution of the police officer responsible, sent shockwaves through the community and made headlines across the country.
Zachary Rolfe had been attempting to take Mr Walker into custody when the 19-year-old stabbed Mr Rolfe in the shoulder.
The then-officer responded by firing his Glock three times.
Mr Rolfe was charged with murder four days later, and was ultimately acquitted of all criminal charges — including manslaughter and engaging in a violent act causing death — after a six-week NT Supreme Court trial in March 2022.
Zachary Rolfe was acquitted of all criminal charges in March 2022.
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ABC News: Che Chorley
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Jurors found Mr Rolfe was acting in self-defence and in line with his police training when he fired his weapon.
The coronial inquest into Mr Walker's death, which is mandatory under NT law because he died in custody, has been running for more than two-and-a-half years.
Coroner Elisabeth Armitage's inquiry was initially scheduled to run for three months, between September and December 2022, but the hearings ultimately stretched across 66 days — over 20 months — as 72 witnesses gave evidence.
A series of unsuccessful legal appeals launched on behalf of Mr Rolfe and others, as well as a broad scope of inquiry, contributed to the delays, making it the
Elisabeth Armitage says what she uncovered during the coronial inquest was "deeply disturbing."
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ABC News: Michael Franchi
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The coroner's inquiry delved well beyond the night Mr Walker was shot, as she heard evidence about both Mr Rolfe and Mr Walker's lives in the years prior to the death.
She examined allegations of racism, cover-ups and excessive use of force among police, as well as the decisions made immediately before and after Mr Walker was killed.
Judge Armitage described what she uncovered as "deeply disturbing".
The coroner's inquiry investigated allegations of racism within the NT Police Force.
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ABC News: Pete Garnish
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Through text messages found on Mr Rolfe's phone — which he sought to have barred from the inquiry, arguing they were irrelevant — the inquest heard racist language was used among police on the Alice Springs beat.
Photo shows
a graphic showing a male middle-aged police officer, a young man in a white collared shirt and a woman wearing a dress
The coronial inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker has finished after almost two years of hearings, leaving the Northern Territory Police Force in crisis.
When Mr Rolfe gave substantial evidence to the inquest, more than a year after it began, he told the coroner such language was "normalised" among police and revealed the force's most elite unit had spent years
The coronial investigation into the death in custody of the 19-year-old Warlpiri-Luritja man became the trigger for an ICAC inquiry and a string of internal investigations for the Northern Territory Police Force.
He has launched an appeal of that decision.
Zachary Rolfe was dismissed from the NT Police Force in 2023.
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ABC News: Michael Franchi
)
After hundreds of hours of hearings, the coroner received thousands of pages of submissions from the 16 interested parties to the inquest — including Mr Walker's family, Mr Rolfe, the NT Police Force, other government agencies and community organisations.
Her findings and recommendations are likely to be lengthy and will be delivered in Yuendumu, where Mr Walker died.
"Coroner Armitage has accepted an invitation from the Parumpurru committee of Yuendumu to deliver her findings in Yuendumu, noting that the Local Court regularly sits in Yuendumu, and that the Coroners Court has a history of, where possible, conducting inquests, or parts of inquests, in the geographical area where a death has occurred," an NT courts spokesperson said in a statement.
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"In mainstream Australia there is a need for a massive reckoning around the injustice," he said. "That's why truth-telling is so important." Ms Kiss pointed to youth justice legislation in the Northern Territory and Queensland, saying those jurisdictions have been wilfully opposing their human rights obligations. "If we do not exercise our rights, they are not held accountable to them," she said. "If we do not challenge governments on the fact they have obligations to our rights, they will continue to violate them." Her comments come after Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves called out the Northern Territory government and the NT Police at the Garma Festival. Mr Hargraves said his community of Yuendumu had lost trust in the police after the deaths of his grandson Kumanjayi White in May, and Kumanjayi Walker in 2019. Kumanjayi Walker was 19 when he was shot by then-constable Zachary Rolfe at close range at a home in Yuendumu. 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Speaking at the Garma Festival at Gulkula in northeast Arnhem Land, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Katie Kiss said people must be mindful about political leaders favouring "practical measures" over truth-telling. "What people don't understand is that it's the practical measures that got us to the situation that we're currently in," she said. "We've got to be really mindful about that fact when we hear this narrative about truth-telling is symbolism." The importance of truth-telling was also highlighted by Human Rights Commission president Hugh De Kretser. "In mainstream Australia there is a need for a massive reckoning around the injustice," he said. "That's why truth-telling is so important." Ms Kiss pointed to youth justice legislation in the Northern Territory and Queensland, saying those jurisdictions have been wilfully opposing their human rights obligations. "If we do not exercise our rights, they are not held accountable to them," she said. 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During his speech Mr Albanese also acknowledged the work of Victoria's truth-telling process, the Yoorrook Justice Commission, which Mr De Kretser said was good to see, and could "open the door a little" to truth-telling on a national level. 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14
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Detainees crammed into cells, unable to shower or brush their teeth for days on end and denied toilet privacy. Legal advocates say an overcrowding crisis in Northern Territory prisons and watch houses is prompting constant lockdowns and making it unsafe for detainees denied basic human rights and forced to accept "third world conditions". It's claimed Aboriginal children as young as 11 have been held at Palmerston Watch House, south of Darwin, and that cells there have at times been jammed with up to 17 people, with frequent cases of self harm occurring. Detainees report having to use toilets in front of others, make do with limited sanitary products, sleep under bloodied blankets and go without medication for epilepsy and other conditions. The NT police union is concerned watch house conditions are making it dangerous for both officers and detainees. Territory barrister Lyma Nguyen says the "appalling" situation reflects a justice system that appears to be breaking down. The Country Liberal Party government has been pushing through a tough-on-crime agenda, including harsher bail conditions designed to send more people to the cells to await court cases. It is unapologetic about favouring victims over offenders and has been rolling out hundreds more beds in prisons and hiring more guards to cope with the influx. But until prison capacity catches up, watch houses are often crammed and lockdowns are constant, largely due to lack of staff. "I defend many people in criminal cases who are arrested and held at watch houses over weekends before they are brought to court to see a judge," Ms Nguyen tells AAP. Some clients then find out in court on a Monday their paperwork is not ready or there are too many cases to hear that day so they are sent back to the watch house, she says. "So people are held in custody for longer than necessary in really appalling conditions; I'm told there are often 17 people to a cell." 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"I understand police have changed their shifts and changed the way they look after the Palmerston Watch House so they can deal and cope with that extra pressure," Ms Uibo recently told reporters. NT Police Association president Nathan Finn agrees the facility has reached "crisis point", putting officers, prisoners and the broader community at "unacceptable risk". "The CLP government has made repeated promises to stop using police facilities for correctional purposes, yet the Palmerston Watch House is now overflowing," he says. "It's not a matter of if but when a serious custody incident occurs. "This government continues to beat its chest about locking up more offenders but it has utterly failed to plan for the consequences of its own policies." Mr Finn says police are exhausted, burnt out and being called in on overtime just to maintain basic safety. The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency recently highlighted the case of an 11-year-old girl held at Palmerston with "adults in surrounding cells screaming, yelling". The agency described that as a "breach of human rights" when children taken into custody should be transferred to a youth detention centre as soon as possible under court order. Police data recently released to the ABC under freedom of information laws show 19 cases of children self-harming over six months at watch houses in Palmerston, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs and Katherine. The youngest of the teens to self-harm was 13, while there were five cases featuring 14-year-olds and all but one matter involved an Indigenous teen. NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro, who is also police minister, stands by authorities using watch houses to process youths taken into custody. She's told ABC Radio they employ "a lot of oversight and controls and policies and procedures" and she considers them "very safe places". The territory's police force similarly says they are managed within a strict framework that provides guidance on the care and treatment of persons in custody. "The primary consideration in relation to people in police custody is the safety and welfare of the individual," it says. Corrections Minister Gerard Maley has acknowledged the pressures at Palmerston but says his department is working as quickly as possible to get more beds online. He says the government is also easing the load on police and corrections officers by contracting private service provider G4S to take on prisoner transport and custody services.
