YEUNDUMU ELDER WELCOMES ‘TRUTH’ REVEALED AT KUMANJAYI WALKER INQUEST
Kumanjayi Walker. Photo: Justice for Walker
BY GERARD MAZZA.
After two months of the coronial inquest into the death of Warlpiri teenager Kumanjayi Walker, a Warlpiri elder says his people feel relieved that important truths have been revealed during the hearing.
Nineteen-year-old Kumanjayi Walker was shot and killed by Nothern Territory Police Constable Zachary Rolfe in Yeundumu in 2019.
In March, Constable Rolfe was found not guilty of Kumanjayi Walker’s murder and other charges.
The three-month inquest began on 5 September.
Senior Warlpiri elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves said community members in Yuendumu had appreciated being able to hear new information that had emerged from the inquest.
Senior Warlpiri elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves in 2018. Photo: Ed Gold.
“Community feels that this is really what we needed right at the beginning,” Mr Hargraves said.
“We needed the truth, but it never was told.
“The community are feeling more at ease.”
The inquest has investigated the culture within the Northern Territory Police.
Early in the inquest, Coroner Elizabeth Armitage said she would investigate whether racism “did play a role” in Kumanjayi Walker’s death.
On Tuesday 1 November, Ms Armitage said the inquest wasn’t “simply about Mr Rolfe” but “much broader and deeper than that.”
Offensive text messages sent and received by Constable Rolfe have been presented to the inquest as evidence of racism by Constable Rolfe and within the Police force more generally.
Mr Hargraves said the text messages were “disgusting” and demonstrated that “the biggest, biggest problem” in Australian society was racism.
“We have racist people,” he said.
“We have racists, Australia today. It’s got to stop.”
Two weeks ago, one of the officers who sent and received racist text messages with Constable Rolfe, Constable Mitchell Hansen, apologised to Kumanjayi Walker’s family.
“"I never intended to offend anyone, but I think our words have power," Constable Hansen said.
Mr Hargraves said it was “too late now” for an apology.
A police report prepared for the coronial inquest revealed Constable Zachary Rolfe was involved in 46 use-of-force reports during his three years in Alice Springs, none of which led to findings of excessive force.
Police documents have also revealed Constable Rolfe failed to declare past violent behaviour when applying to join the Northern Territory police force and had previously been knocked back from joining the Queensland police force after an “integrity breach” in his application.
Mr Hargraves has called for a ban on guns in remote communities like Yeundumu.
“We have children that are [experiencing] fear right now,” he said.
“They cannot walk around in the community seeing guns that the police wear.
“We feel uncomfortable in our own community. That’s not what we want. We want to be walking around free.”
Mr Hargraves has given his support to a rally being held in Perth on Thursday to call for a ban on all-white juries in trials related to Indigenous deaths in custody.
He said trying Aboriginal people without Aboriginal jurors is “the biggest racist thing that happens … right across [Australia] today.”
Constable Rolfe was acquitted by a jury that had no Indigenous people on it.
“If there was First Nations people there, it would have been different story,” Mr Hargaves said.
Ballardong Nyungar man Desmond Blurton. Photo: Nancye Miles-Tweedie
Ballardong Nyungar man and Deaths in Custody Watch Committee deputy chairman Desmond Blurton, who is organising the Perth rally, said First Nations people must be represented on juries.
“We have a lot of respectable people, Nyungar people, down here on our boodja [country], and I’m pretty sure we have a lot of respectable Aboriginal people throughout our land, that could be represented on jury systems, but we are denied this,” Mr Blurton said.
The ‘Ban All White Juries’ rally will be held on Thursday at 1 pm at Forrest Place, Perth.