Kumanjayi Walker’s family call for truth and accountability as evidence concludes
The family of Warlpiri and Luritja teenager Kumanjayi Walker have called for truth, accountability and justice, after the coronial inquest into the police shooting death of Kumanjayi concluded its evidence yesterday.
The NT Police Commissioner, Michael Murphy, was the final witness to give evidence to the long running coronial inquest, conceding that he had effectively gaslighted members of the Aboriginal community when denying that there is any racism in the NT Police.
On 9 November 2019, Kumanjayi Walker was killed after former NT police officer Zachary Rolfe shot him three times at close range in his home community of Yuendumu. Rolfe was charged with murder after the shooting but acquitted at trial.
In his evidence this week, Rolfe said that he was “bored” by the inquest process which saw him concede that never being held to account for unprofessional conduct or racist language enabled him, and that there were things he could have done in terms of preparation and risk assessment that could have prevented Kumanjayi’s Walker’s death.
In February 2024, Rolfe gave wide ranging evidence to the inquest, including that "racist language is used everywhere in the NT Police” and that “racist language was normalised in the NT Police Force”. As a result of revelations made during the inquest, the Northern Territory Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC) and NT Police are currently undertaking a joint investigation into racism within the police force.
Lee Bauwens, the sergeant in charge of the Immediate Response Team in 2019 when it was deployed to Yuendumu the night Kumanjayi Walker was shot, and one of several police officers involved in racist text message exchanges found on Rolfe's phone, was also recalled this week and gave evidence about racist mock certificates awarded to members of the unit.
The significant inquest, which has now spanned over two years, commenced in September 2022. Final submissions will be made by the parties to the inquest in the coming months, with the Coroner to hand down her findings and recommendations following that.
Quote from Leanne Oldfield, adoptive mother of Kumanjayi Walker:
“I always get tired and sad coming here back and forth. It’s been really hard. I raised Kumanjayi for 19 years. He was funny, made me breakfast and lunch. He liked to cook. I want to see change for our young people.”
Quote from Samara Fernandez-Brown, cousin of Kumanjayi Walker:
“Our families and communities have stood strong, showing up every step of the way for truth and justice for my cousin Kumanjayi. Racism killed Kumanjayi. Racism from NT Police, the NT Government, from Zachary Rolfe. Yet none of them have ever been held to account for Kumanjayi’s death.
“For us, this process has been everything but boring. It has been gruelling. It has been shocking, and devastating on every level. We have turned up and listened to all the ways that Kumanjayi was failed, and we did so in order to fight for his justice, his legacy and for the protection of other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders all around the world.
“We miss Kumanjayi. We are heartbroken and exhausted after two long years and want to see tangible change so we can finally start our healing.”
Quote from Jared Sharp, Principal Legal Officer at the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA):
“We stand with the Aboriginal communities of the Northern Territory and more specifically with the family and community of Kumanjayi Walker as they fight for long overdue justice and accountability. They deserve to know the full truth about how and why their loved one died.
“We will shortly be making submissions to the Coroner seeking robust recommendations for change to allow community-led solutions, real police accountability, and the dismantling of structural racism so that a tragedy like this never happens again.”
Quote from Nick Espie, Special Counsel at the Human Rights Law Centre, who are supporting NAAJA in the inquest:
“No one should ever go through what Kumanjayi Walker and now his loved ones have been through. But the racism in NT Police which led to Kumanjayi Walker’s death continues to pose risks to the safety of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory to this day. The Lawler Government must end racial injustice and address the systemic racism woven into the fabric of institutions like the NT Police.
“Across this country, hundreds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have died in custody since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody handed down their final report in 1991. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have provided the NT Government with solutions which work, yet the NT Government continues to sit on their hands and fails to act. We repeat calls to urgently resource self-determined solutions including community-led alternatives to police and justice related support services.”
Background
The Justice 4 Walker campaign - formed by Kumanjayi Walker’s family and community following his death to demand justice for their loved one - are calling for:
greater NT Government support for remote communities;
divestment from prisons and policing and support community-led alternatives;
the banning of guns and ending the excessive use of force and discriminatory policing in Yuendumu;
a reckoning with the Northern Territory’s mass imprisonment crisis; and
respect for the community and reinstating of community control over Yuendumu.
The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA), with support from the Human Rights Law Centre, intervened in the coronial inquest to highlight systemic injustices experienced by Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. They are calling for:
an end to discriminatory policing and excessive use of force by police;
independent and robust police accountability mechanisms; and
proper resourcing for self-determined solutions including community-led alternatives to police and community-controlled health services.
Media contact:
Thomas Feng
Acting Engagement Director
Human Rights Law Centre
0431 285 275
thomas.feng@hrlc.org.au
Rebecca Urban
Senior Consultant
The Shape Agency on behalf of NAAJA
0411 790 304
rebecca@theshapeagency.com.au