Speaker 1: On nine November twenty nineteen, in Yundamu, Kumenji Walker, a
Speaker 1: nineteen year old Walpur literature teenager, was shot and killed
Speaker 1: by former Constable Zachary Rolf.
Speaker 2: Kumanji Walker's family gathered this week to hear coroner Elizabeth
Speaker 2: Armitage share her findings into his death.
Speaker 1: Having considered all the evidence, including mister Rolf's explanations and justifications,
Speaker 1: I found that mister Rolf was racist and that he
Speaker 1: worked in and was the beneficiary of an organization with
Speaker 1: hallmarks of institutional racism.
Speaker 2: In twenty twenty two, Rolf was found not guilty of
Speaker 2: Kumanji Walker's murder, but his family have always maintained that
Speaker 2: Rolfs racism played a role in Walker's death. Coroner Elizabeth
Speaker 2: Armitich said she couldn't rule that out.
Speaker 1: That I cannot exclude that possibility. Is a tragedy for
Speaker 1: kumin Jay's family and community who will always believe that
Speaker 1: race played an integral part in his death, and it
Speaker 1: is a taint that may stain the NT police.
Speaker 2: I'm Daniel James, and you're listening at seven am today
Speaker 2: Investigative journalist Kate Wilde and what the inquest revealed about
Speaker 2: the racist culture of the Northern Territory Police, how it
Speaker 2: enabled Zachary Rolf to act with impunity, and whether institutional
Speaker 2: change is possible. It's Wednesday, July ninth, Kate, this particular
Speaker 2: in quest, can you tell me about its scope and
Speaker 2: about the coroner's approach the questions that she was seeking
Speaker 2: to answer.
Speaker 3: So, the coronial process is designed to determine the place
Speaker 3: and cause of a person's death and the identity of
Speaker 3: your person who's died at it's most basic, also designed
Speaker 3: to figure out what has contributed to that death in
Speaker 3: order to prevent similar deaths in the future. And that
Speaker 3: was really the task that Elizabeth Armitage set herself, was
Speaker 3: to look more deeply at this conflict between a young
Speaker 3: Aboriginal man and a young white police officer in a
Speaker 3: single house in a remote community in the Northern Territory.
Speaker 3: What led them both to be in that house at
Speaker 3: that moment, What were the forces, the cultural and attitudinal
Speaker 3: forces driving each of them, and what made that a
Speaker 3: fatal moment of contact. One of the things that has
Speaker 3: been most impressive about this inquest is the way that
Speaker 3: Elizabeth Armitage has run her courtroom. It's been one of
Speaker 3: the most inclusive and informal processes that I've seen. For instance,
Speaker 3: the Colonial opened with a Walbury interpreter sitting next to
Speaker 3: Liby Armitage on the bench and interpreting everything that she said.
Speaker 3: So from the beginning, Wolbury language and law and culture
Speaker 3: were sort of placed the same level as the most
Speaker 3: senior Western legal person in the room. And those singular
Speaker 3: acts of sort of rebellion against the way that things
Speaker 3: have always been and taking the risk of making a
Speaker 3: change like that, that risk being taken by someone in
Speaker 3: a position of power. I think maybe that's the kind
Speaker 3: of thing that is going to bring the sorts of
Speaker 3: change that we all want to see but don't necessarily
Speaker 3: believe can come just from a single report.
Speaker 2: And so why has it taken so long for this
Speaker 2: report to be handed down?
Speaker 3: So the coronials started in September twenty twenty two, about
Speaker 3: six months after Rolf's trial finished, and he was acquitted.
Speaker 3: Almost immediately, Zachary Rolf's legal team started making objections to
Speaker 3: the kind of evidence that he should be made to give,
Speaker 3: so having to give evidence about racism within the Northern
Speaker 3: Territory Police Force. Rolph objected to giving evidence about his
Speaker 3: use of force, history, about his record in the military,
Speaker 3: about text messages that were found on his phone, and
Speaker 3: about his disciplinary history in the Northern Churchill Police and
Speaker 3: those legal appeals are far and away the biggest reason
Speaker 3: for delays for it going from what should have been
Speaker 3: a few months to almost three years.
Speaker 2: So let's go to what the coroner found. When Judge
Speaker 2: Armaitich read out her reports, she said that having considered
Speaker 2: all the evidence, including mister Rolf's explanations and justifications, that
Speaker 2: she found that mister Rolf was racist.
Speaker 1: While it is not possible for me to say with
Speaker 1: certainty that mister Rolf's racist attitudes were operative in his
Speaker 1: decisions on nine November, or were a contributing cause of
Speaker 1: Kumanjai's death, I cannot exclude that possibility.
Speaker 2: And so we want to say that racism may have
Speaker 2: been a contributing cause of Kumanjai Walker's death in so
Speaker 2: far as it may have influenced his actions that night.
Speaker 2: That is something the Walker family have maintained to be
Speaker 2: the case. How significant is a finding like that from
Speaker 2: the coroner.
Speaker 3: I think it's signal. I don't think to anyone who
Speaker 3: has been in the territory or following this inquest closely
Speaker 3: that it would have been a surprise. It may have
Speaker 3: been a surprise that the coroner stated it so clearly.
Speaker 3: I think what was more of a surprise was that
Speaker 3: Judge Armitage expanded the scope and the influence of racism
Speaker 3: to the police force more generally as well, to say that, yes,
Speaker 3: definitely Zachary rolf was racist, and his attitudes and his
Speaker 3: beliefs would have influenced his approach to that night and
Speaker 3: could have been a fact during commen Joe Walker's death,
Speaker 3: but also that some of the responsibility for that lay
Speaker 3: with the Northern Territory of Police Force, which was an
Speaker 3: organization that showed the hallmarks of institutional racism, and that
Speaker 3: because there were senior members within the police force who
Speaker 3: were responsible for Zachary rolfan who were sort of colluding
Speaker 3: with him in his behavior and encouraging him in it,
Speaker 3: he was left immune to any kind of censure. He
Speaker 3: was sort of encouraged to keep going. No one ever
Speaker 3: told him that what he was doing was not okay.
Speaker 1: In disturbing evidence. On at least five occasions, mister Rolf
Speaker 1: recorded on his phone body worn footage of his forceful
Speaker 1: arrests of Aboriginal men. He replayed the body worn video
Speaker 1: to colleagues and forwarded the phone footage to family and friends.
Speaker 1: It is clear that a significant motivation for doing this
Speaker 1: was because he was proud of, was boasting about and
Speaker 1: wished to be celebrated for his physical feats of tactical
Speaker 1: skill or ability. He thought that using force against arrest
Speaker 1: targets and causing them serious injury was funny.
Speaker 2: And how do you think that the Northern Territory police
Speaker 2: forces grappling with the need to reform itself.
Speaker 3: I think that's been one of the most interesting things
Speaker 3: for me to watch over the sort of now almost
Speaker 3: six years since Kimunjay Walker's death. It was really evident
Speaker 3: during Zachary ROV's murder trial that there was a sort
Speaker 3: of internal battle going on within the Northern Territory Police
Speaker 3: Force for who would rule the culture, and it was
Speaker 3: a battle between you know what have known up here
Speaker 3: as bush cops and town cops. They're really loose terms,
Speaker 3: but bush cops, you know, people who work out in
Speaker 3: remote communities and are much more focused on community policing,
Speaker 3: which is based on relationships and de escalation. They still
Speaker 3: face some really dangerous situations, you know, often in really
Speaker 3: isolated settings. But it's a much more humanistic approach, I
Speaker 3: would guess you could say, whereas the loose term town cops,
Speaker 3: which really in this instance sort of refers to Zachary
Speaker 3: Rolf's style of policing of sort of cowboy Rambo where
Speaker 3: the tough guys were dominating sort of culture. There's been
Speaker 3: a battle between those two groups since Kimunji Walker's death
Speaker 3: to see who will gain the uphand within the Northern
Speaker 3: Territory Police Force, the coroner certainly in her findings has
Speaker 3: supported the bush cop culture. The Northern Church of the
Speaker 3: Police Force executive has come out and said that that
Speaker 3: is definitely the kind of culture that they want to
Speaker 3: promote and that they want to be known for as
Speaker 3: a Northern Church of police officers. But they have a
Speaker 3: real fight on their hands because that's not how all
Speaker 3: frontline police officers want a police.
Speaker 2: After the break, the change come and die Walker's family
Speaker 2: is calling for. Today is not a very.
Speaker 3: It's not a really a happy day for us. It's
Speaker 3: another sad day.
Speaker 2: So Kate. When Zachary Rolf was ac quitted of Kamanjie
Speaker 2: Walker's murder, his grandfather need Japan. Jin Hardgraves called for
Speaker 2: a band and all guns in Aboriginal communities.
Speaker 1: No guns, no guns in a row remote community.
Speaker 2: W I want no guns.
Speaker 3: Enough is enough.
Speaker 2: There are several other calls that have come from the
Speaker 2: Uindomu community. They want an independent police, armbudsman, self determination,
Speaker 2: investment and alternatives to prison. What hope do you think
Speaker 2: the family has now that this inquest has finished and
Speaker 2: the report has been handed down, will it get them
Speaker 2: closest to any of those outcomes?
Speaker 3: I mean, one of the strongest findings that the coroner
Speaker 3: made was that the Northern Terati of Police should work
Speaker 3: with the Undabout leadership to work out the circumstances in
Speaker 3: which police don't carry guns in community.
Speaker 1: I've recommended that the anti police engaged directly with the
Speaker 1: leadership groups to develop mutual respect agreements, including when it
Speaker 1: would be appropriate for police not to carry firearms in community.
Speaker 1: And I've made other recommendations concerning the use of long
Speaker 1: arm weapons.
Speaker 3: So certainly they've been supported by the coroner in that
Speaker 3: desire for sort of more self determination, no guns in
Speaker 3: remote communities.
Speaker 1: I've made recommendations on recruit training and cultural inductions. Specifically,
Speaker 1: I have recommended that the circumstances of Cooman Jay's death
Speaker 1: be incorporated in training on officer induced jeopardy to NT
Speaker 1: health in an effort to both prevent and address trauma
Speaker 1: experience by young people like cumen Jay. I have recommended
Speaker 1: a strengthening of its developmental screening programs for children under
Speaker 1: five years to strengthen relationships and the cultural competency of clinics.
Speaker 1: I have recommended that work be done with the local
Speaker 1: health advisory groups and other community groups. And I have
Speaker 1: recommended a strategy be developed for the delivery of sustainable
Speaker 1: mental health services in Central Australia Australia, including a new DEMOU.
Speaker 3: But I guess the community is at the mercy of
Speaker 3: powers greater than them, governments willingness to support change, to
Speaker 3: fund change. I think there's a level of cynicism and
Speaker 3: resignation that all of this paperwork and all of this
Speaker 3: talking happens and then that's the end of it. So
Speaker 3: I think a lot of people don't have a lot
Speaker 3: of expectations, But I think there's reason to have hope
Speaker 3: that at least a position like the Coroners is very
Speaker 3: much in support of what the community has asked for.
Speaker 3: I think there's an extra layer of grief at the
Speaker 3: moment because there's been another death in custody of a
Speaker 3: young wildpri man quite recently, and that sort of on
Speaker 3: its own has opened up a lot of old wounds.
Speaker 3: But sitting listening to the coroner reader some of her
Speaker 3: recommendations and findings yesterday, in which she also went back
Speaker 3: through quite a few of the details of Kumanchized actual death,
Speaker 3: I think those wounds were really reopened again in a
Speaker 3: very visceral sort of way to.
Speaker 1: Kuman Jay's family and to the community of Yundmu. I
Speaker 1: am sorry for your profound loss. I now hand down
Speaker 1: my findings. There was no reaction from people when the
Speaker 1: coroner finished speaking at the end of about forty five
Speaker 1: minutes of a presentation, and people just sort of melted
Speaker 1: away reasonably quickly, and the space was left kind of
Speaker 1: kind of empty.
Speaker 2: It's been almost thirty years since the Royal Commission into
Speaker 2: Aboriginal Deaths incusody, and we've known so much about these
Speaker 2: issues for decades. Kate and governments have really set on
Speaker 2: recommendations to fix this. But it's been a long long
Speaker 2: time and it keeps happening. So do you believe that
Speaker 2: there will be a case or a report that finally
Speaker 2: makes governments act.
Speaker 3: No, I don't. I don't think reports. I mean I
Speaker 3: think they're worthwhile. I think what the coroner has produced
Speaker 3: is a slab of history and a story that bears
Speaker 3: witness to one of the latest chapters in the Northern
Speaker 3: Territory's history of relationships between First Nations people and the police.
Speaker 3: But you know, there are supermarket trolleys full of reports
Speaker 3: all over the country into things like this, and none
Speaker 3: of them have managed to make the change that are necessary.
Speaker 3: I don't know what will make that change other than
Speaker 3: continued pressure from the broader community on the political system.
Speaker 3: It feels like a really lay answer, But I don't
Speaker 3: know that anyone has the answer to what will make
Speaker 3: the change happen, otherwise we'd be doing it.
Speaker 2: And in terms of that idea of the community placing
Speaker 2: pressure on government tact, what told does that take on
Speaker 2: a family to have to do that over years and years.
Speaker 3: Enormous It's an enormous toll. But that's a toll that
Speaker 3: First Nations people around the country. And I would say,
Speaker 3: in my experience, particularly in remote communities carry every day.
Speaker 3: The lives of people in U and Demu are political
Speaker 3: every single day, and so they are constantly carrying that
Speaker 3: weight that their lives are controlled hemmed in by laws
Speaker 3: and regulations and decisions that they don't have any part
Speaker 3: in and they don't have any power over. And so
Speaker 3: fighting against that is a part of daily life for
Speaker 3: people in remote communities and it takes an enormous toll.
Speaker 2: Kate, thank you for talking to me today.
Speaker 3: It's a pleasure.
Speaker 2: Kate Wilde's book about the life and death of common
Speaker 2: Joe Walker is called The Red House. It will be
Speaker 2: out soon. Also in the news, the Reserve Bank has
Speaker 2: to fight expectations of a rate cut, instead holding the
Speaker 2: cash trade at three point eight five percent. According to
Speaker 2: a post meeting statement from the RBA Board, the decision
Speaker 2: was made by majority, with six in favor and three
Speaker 2: against the decision. The bank had been widely tipped to
Speaker 2: cartingteri'st rates following a slowing of inflation. The board will
Speaker 2: meet again in August, and Alan Jones's lawyer has told
Speaker 2: to Sydney Court that he holds grave concerns about the
Speaker 2: legality of a surge police conducted on the broadcaster's phone.
Speaker 2: Alan Jones has been charged with thirty five sexual offenses
Speaker 2: involving the indecent assault, groping and inappropriate touching of several
Speaker 2: young men. He has denied the allegations. Jones is on
Speaker 2: bail and was not required to appear in court, but
Speaker 2: his lawyer, Brian Ranch said they have lodged a legal
Speaker 2: complaint over the phone search. I'm Daniel James. This is
Speaker 2: seven AM Tomorrow. Ruby sits down with Antoinette Latouffe to
Speaker 2: talk about her win against the ABC and what it
Speaker 2: says about how decisions are made at the public broadcaster.
Speaker 4: I think audiences are rightly skeptical and if the ABC
Speaker 4: wants to remain relevant and trusted as the most trusted
Speaker 4: news source in the world, it needs to show that
Speaker 4: it can withstand lobbying of any form.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening. Yes,