WEBVTT - We're Still Dying At Their Hands 0:00:02.680 --> 0:00:06.080 Just before nine o'clock last night, the jury returned guilty 0:00:06.160 --> 0:00:10.080 verdicts against all three defendants. It was absolute shambles, to 0:00:10.119 --> 0:00:12.200 tell you the truth, just absolutely really coming. 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:14.680 Blood on his clothing the day after the alleged a 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:16.600 top on a shallow mud bank and it fits through 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:16.960 a river. 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:19.200 Basically, I think most of the people are used to me, 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:20.600 there are good people. 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:23.280 I think a really important question we need to ask 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:26.360 is how many Indigenous prisoners in Australia are innocent. 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:29.880 This is Curtain, a podcast where we pull back the 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:32.440 blinds to shine a light on the darkest parts of 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:35.400 our justice system and ask who are the victims. 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:41.080 I'm Amy Maguire and I'm Martin Hodgson, a senior advocate 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:44.960 for the Foreign Prisoner Support Service. And a warning, this 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:48.920 series contains the names of deceased peoples and has distressing 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:52.240 content that might upset some listeners. 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:59.880 Welcome to Curtin the podcast for twenty nineteen. With this one, 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:04.440 thank our listeners both on radio and those who listen 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:08.800 to the podcast via a number of web services like iTunes, 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:14.360 Spotify and SoundCloud for their patients. As we bring you 0:01:14.440 --> 0:01:20.480 new information about the case of Kevin Henry. This year. Unfortunately, 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:24.800 due to delays beyond our control, we can't really update 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:28.360 you as to where Kevin's case is at the minute. 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:33.160 We can say it's progressing. It's progressing favorably for Kevin, 0:01:34.040 --> 0:01:37.000 but due to the very slow nature of the way 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:41.759 government works, we can't reveal anything too much at this stage, 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:44.800 but we hope to be able to in the coming weeks. 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:49.800 But in the meantime, there are plenty of pressing issues 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:55.000 relating to the overincarceration of Aboriginal Andentura Strait Islander people 0:01:55.040 --> 0:01:59.560 in Australia, Debt's in custody, and also the issue of 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:04.360 false confessions and police behavior in Australia that we want 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:09.840 to address. To start this episode, I want to begin 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:14.920 on a somber note. As many people will probably be aware, 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:21.360 Andrew Mark Mallard was wrongly accused and convicted of a 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:26.400 murder in Western Australia in nineteen ninety five. It took 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:32.160 his friends, family and supporters nearly twelve years to have 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:39.400 his conviction overturned. The police had, through a great deal 0:02:39.440 --> 0:02:44.720 of misconduct, tampering with evidence and many other things would 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:48.600 later be revealed, found a way to make Andrew the 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:54.560 prime suspect and put him on trial. Andrew was convicted 0:02:56.560 --> 0:03:02.200 and was detained in maximum security prison for those twelve years, 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:06.840 But in two thousand and six his conviction was quashed 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:10.239 by the High Court and compensation was paid to him 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:16.280 by the state government. But even after all that, the 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:21.120 Police Force of Western Australia still claimed that Andrew Mallard 0:03:21.280 --> 0:03:26.760 was the prime suspect. This was proven absurd when a 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:31.839 full review was conducted into what happened that night when 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:37.240 the murder took place, and unsurprisingly what was uncovered was 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:42.280 that there was compelling evidence that an already convicted murderer, 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:48.560 Simon Roachford, had actually carried out the murder that Andrew 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:52.680 Mallard had wrongly been convicted of. How many times have 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:58.280 we heard of people who have already committed murders getting 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:03.160 off scot free because the police target the wrong people. 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:10.080 In Andrew's case, he'd had a difficult life. He'd suffered 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:16.040 mental illness that he'd spent a long time trying to overcome. 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:19.800 To improve his lot in life, he sought therapy to 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:25.279 gain confidence, to study and to find a place to live. 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:30.520 But due to his circumstances due to his mental illness, 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:35.200 due to his periods of homelessness. He was targeted by 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:40.599 the police, and although Andrew was to be found that 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:47.560 he'd been wrongly convicted, no amount of compensation, no amount 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:51.760 of the quashing of that wrong conviction, could ever bring 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:56.479 back the twelve years he lost, or the heartache and 0:04:56.600 --> 0:05:00.640 mental turmoil he suffered spending all those years in prison, 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:08.240 convicted for a crime he didn't commit. Thankfully, Andrew was 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:12.280 able to move on with his life. He successfully completed 0:05:12.320 --> 0:05:16.000 a university degree and he moved to London in the UK. 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:22.000 He simply found living in Australia too difficult. Even more 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:25.680 happiness would come for Andrew when he was engaged to 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:30.039 be married, and often traveled to Los Angeles in California 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:35.760 to visit his fiance where she lived. Less than two 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:40.800 weeks ago, Andrew was sadly fatally struck by a car 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:44.880 while trying to cross the road in Hollywood. The person 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:50.599 didn't stop and Andrew was killed. We want to send 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:55.360 our deepest condolences to Andrew's family, to all his loved ones, 0:05:56.080 --> 0:06:00.200 his friends and those who supported him in friend bring 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:05.400 himself from prison and clearing his name. It's a tragic 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:08.919 end to a tragic story that never had to be 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:13.640 that way if the police in Western Australia didn't convict 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:18.760 the wrong man of a crime he did not commit. Again, 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:22.400 it's a story we continue to hear all too often. 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:28.040 One of the reasons we hear this story and we've 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:30.479 brought it to you on Curtain has happened to Kevin 0:06:30.560 --> 0:06:37.279 Henry is the use of aggressive and I would say 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:44.080 immoral techniques by police to obtain false confessions. Three years 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:47.119 ago on this podcast, you heard about what is called 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:51.600 the read technique, a technique developed in the United States 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:55.960 and used by the United States Police Force across all 0:06:56.400 --> 0:07:03.599 their states and federal jurisdictions that seeks to get not 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:08.200 just innocent people to confess to crimes they didn't commit. 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:12.600 It so often has innocent people confessing to crimes they 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:17.679 knew nothing about, crimes that never took place, and people 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:23.320 imprisoned for life on information that was extracted under duress 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:31.080 during this interview process, known as the reed technique. So 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:36.280 flawed is this technique that leaked documents discovered in the 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:40.120 Library of Congress in the United States in twenty thirteen 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:45.840 showed that the FBI, the Federal Bureau of investigation no 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:51.600 longer advised their serving members to utilize the technique, as 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:56.280 it too often led to false confessions. But that doesn't 0:07:56.320 --> 0:08:01.080 stop the police force across America from us using the technique, 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:05.400 and as we've pointed out, many people have falsely confessed 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:09.640 to crimes they didn't commit because of it. It's highly aggressive, 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:15.400 it is highly manipulative, and it's an immoral way to 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:21.480 extract a confession from an innocent person. As we've also 0:08:21.520 --> 0:08:26.360 pointed out in the podcast, elements of this technique were 0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:31.600 clearly used by the Queensland Police against Kevin Henry and 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:37.920 remain in use by police officers right around Australia. Now 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:44.120 this evening on ABCTV Four Corners ran a program on 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:50.160 the Reed technique. Sadly for all Australians whose tax dollars 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:53.720 go to fund the ABC and put on programs like 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:58.360 four Corners, the investigation into the use of the Reed 0:08:58.440 --> 0:09:05.280 technique focused on the United States. That's despite three years 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:08.800 ago here on the Curtain podcast you hearing how that 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:14.360 technique is used, especially against vulnerable people and even more 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:19.040 so against Aboriginal people like Kevin Henry. Why wasn't the 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:24.360 ABC and four Corners using their resources that we all 0:09:24.400 --> 0:09:29.560 provide to expose the use of this technique by Australian police, 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:32.840 and to expose the number of false confessions that have 0:09:32.920 --> 0:09:36.439 been elicited in this country, and to expose the number 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:42.679 of innocent people, including children, who are currently detained in Australia, 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:47.760 who have previously been detained wrongfully in Australia, like Andrew Mallard, 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:51.760 who spent twelve years of his life in prison for 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:55.840 a crime he didn't commit. Kevin Henry, who spent twenty 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:59.880 eight years in prison for a crime we all know 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:05.679 he did not commit. So flawed is the red technique 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:10.160 that the very man John Reid who founded it, became 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:16.560 famous after extracting a confession in nineteen fifty five. This 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:21.760 confession in a very high profile case, made his technique 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:26.000 so popular that it was adopted by United States law 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:33.800 enforcement and around the world. There's just one problem with that, 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:38.600 That very first confession he extracted was later determined to 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:45.320 be a false confession. Another man finally confessed to the crime, 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:52.160 and the original person convicted of the crime was paid 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:56.000 compensation of half a million dollars by the State of 0:10:56.080 --> 0:11:00.480 Nebraska for his wrongful conviction. The very first time this 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:04.280 technique was used, it failed, and that was in nineteen 0:11:04.400 --> 0:11:07.800 fifty five. It did the only thing it's good at. 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:14.480 It extracted a false confession. Now that technique remains in 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:19.120 use in the US and in Australia. But your ABC, 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:26.640 our ABC four Corners, a program we fund with vast resources, 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:30.080 chose not to look at the issue of innocent people 0:11:30.120 --> 0:11:33.760 in prison in Australia, chose not to look at police 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:39.000 corruption in Australia, and chose to ignore people like Derrek Bromley, 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:46.280 Kevin Henry, Andrew Mallard, and the many unknown names of Australians, 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:51.079 but more particularly Aboriginal in terrestrate Islander peoples who are 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:56.160 in prison right now for crimes they didn't commit. I 0:11:56.200 --> 0:12:00.240 hope people will express their displeasure at this and call 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:04.600 on the ABC to use the resources we provide as 0:12:04.679 --> 0:12:10.160 taxpayers and we provide given they live and profit on 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:15.560 this land, to investigate the cases I've named and many more. 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:21.559 Speaking of Western Australia where Andrew Mallard once called home, 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:27.040 once again we have to report there's been a death 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:33.040 in custody. Because this podcast goes out to a range 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:37.960 of community radio stations, and is listened to by the 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:42.480 Aboriginal entur Austrade Islander community across Australia. I will not 0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:47.080 name the young woman who died in police custody. Her 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:51.600 name has been used in the public, but it's quite 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:55.839 possible that family members of hers are unaware of her 0:12:55.920 --> 0:13:00.720 death or that it would be further distressing to those 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:06.480 listening today. But what we can tell you is that 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:12.240 this was another case of mistaken identity. The young mother 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:16.760 of three was arrested and held on the ground inside 0:13:16.800 --> 0:13:23.559 her own mother's house in Victoria Park in Western Australia. 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:29.320 Up to eight police officers held her down and screamed 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:34.240 a name. It was not her name. It was a 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:41.199 case of mistaken identity, As her mother said, they did 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:44.360 not turn the lights on and they manhandled my daughter 0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:49.360 to the ground where she urinated herself. This was all 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:55.280 while calling her a different name. We know that from 0:13:55.360 --> 0:14:00.880 both sides, both police the family, that at least six 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:06.480 officers were involved in physically detaining the young woman. They 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:12.440 failed to properly check her identity and only did so 0:14:13.200 --> 0:14:17.319 after they were repeatedly told they had the wrong person. 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:23.200 Police then claim that after her identity was ascertained she 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:27.000 was left in the care of a family member. We 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:30.400 do not know if this is true at this stage. 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:34.600 It's hard to believe anything the Western Australian Police say. 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:41.200 But some twenty minutes later police came into contact with 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:48.160 this young woman again. They state she was behaving erratically. Again, 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:53.440 we only have the police's version of events. She was 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:59.760 then handcuffed and taken away. During this process of being 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:05.320 taken to the police station, she lost consciousness and the 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:12.560 handcuffs were removed and police and paramedics commenced CPR. They 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:16.000 state she was revived and taken by ambulance to Royal 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:21.960 Perth Hospital. She was there placed an induced coma, but 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:25.720 sadly for her young children, her mother, her family and 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:33.000 her community, she passed away. This is absolutely what we 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:37.000 call a death in custody, a black death in custody. 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:42.200 There is absolutely no suggestion that this young woman committed 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:45.920 any crime. There was no reason for the police to 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:50.120 be in her mother's home, let alone holding this young 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:54.000 woman to the ground. Remember more than six, possibly eight 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:59.240 police officers holding her down, and there was no reason 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:03.960 for them to put handcuffs on her. At a later time. 0:16:04.800 --> 0:16:11.240 The police claim this was done for her own safety. 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:17.840 How can it be safe if she's now dead once again. 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:22.280 The findings of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:29.480 Custody twenty eight years ago show that all the recommendations 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:33.560 that were come to nearly three decades ago must be 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:37.760 put into place and must be implemented. They have not, 0:16:38.760 --> 0:16:43.280 and nearly three decades later, a young woman has needlessly 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:49.080 lost her life at the hands of police. What makes 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:54.720 this case even more shocking, if it could be any 0:16:54.760 --> 0:17:04.080 more shocking, is the young woman's father died in nineteen 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:09.760 ninety nine as a result of a death in custody. 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:13.520 Both he and his daughter were twenty six years old 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:16.920 when they died at the hands of the Western Australian State. 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:26.639 Twenty six years old. These are young people, young people 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:32.119 whose health should never have been in a position for 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:37.959 police to claim endlessly that natural causes is what caused 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:43.160 them to die. Young people who shouldn't have needed any 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:47.040 contact with police. But as you've heard, this young woman 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:51.000 whose name the police had wrong it was a mistaken identity, 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:56.080 barged into the mother's home in the middle of the 0:17:56.160 --> 0:18:00.000 night and pinned her to the ground. Police might claim 0:18:00.160 --> 0:18:04.480 natural causes, but doctors at the Royal Perth Hospital have 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:08.480 told the family the young woman's injuries included a two 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:11.840 inch gap between two of the vertebrae at the back 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:17.040 of her neck. That is not a natural death. That 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:21.119 is a death at the hands of police. At least 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:25.160 four hundred and eleven people Aboriginal in Torres Strait Islander 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:29.200 people have died since the Royal Commission into Black Deaths 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:34.640 in custody. Now we have to add another young Aboriginal person, 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:41.440 a mother, a daughter, a community member, and this family 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:48.800 deserves justice. The community in Western Australia deserve justice and 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:53.639 the police have to be held accountable. Young people in 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:57.600 the prime of their life do not die for no reason. 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:01.760 They die because things like a two inch gap is 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:07.320 later found in the back of their vertebrae. That is 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:12.679 not a natural cause. Something happened and the coroner in 0:19:12.720 --> 0:19:16.280 Western Australia must get to the bottom of it and 0:19:16.320 --> 0:19:21.680 will continue to update you on this case. Sadly, that's 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:26.320 not all the bad news to report. In Victoria, in 0:19:26.359 --> 0:19:30.720 a case that's recently come to light, there is the 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:36.359 story of proud Yorda Yorder woman Arnie Tanya Day Arnie 0:19:36.359 --> 0:19:40.680 Tanya was fifty five years old at the time. She 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:43.520 loved her family, she always had a smile on her 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:47.000 face and she was active both online and in the 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:54.679 community in raising awareness about issues affecting Aboriginal people, and 0:19:54.760 --> 0:19:58.440 her last post on Facebook was to highlight a black 0:19:58.480 --> 0:20:02.679 death in custody in New South Wales, a cause she 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:06.560 was passionately supporting and she was in the process of 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:10.360 helping to raise funds for the affected young man's family. 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:17.280 On that day, Unie Tania boarded a train in rural 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:22.240 Victoria headed for Melbourne, where she was going to visit family, 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:30.640 but she never got to her family. Somewhere along that journey, 0:20:32.359 --> 0:20:37.840 Miss Day had fallen asleep. It's believed she'd been drinking 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:44.960 on the day, but how much is not known. She 0:20:45.119 --> 0:20:49.240 was woken and startled by a conductor asking to see 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:54.640 her ticket. According to them, she seemed confused and couldn't 0:20:54.680 --> 0:21:00.840 find her ticket. The ticket inspector called the police, who 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:05.720 arrived from Castle Maine, and Arnie Tanna was arrested for 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:12.000 public drunkenness. She was then taken to the Castlemaine Police station, 0:21:14.200 --> 0:21:17.840 and this was for the purposes according to Victoria Police 0:21:18.080 --> 0:21:22.840 of sobering up. But by the end of that day, 0:21:23.400 --> 0:21:28.560 rather than being with her family, Untitanya was unconscious and 0:21:28.640 --> 0:21:38.359 in hospital. Seventeen days after being detained, she died. What 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:42.679 happened is still being investigated by a coronial process that 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:47.040 continues to this day. Later, i'll share information of how 0:21:47.040 --> 0:21:50.040 you can support the family, and there is another event 0:21:50.160 --> 0:21:56.040 tomorrow Tuesday that we would encourage you to attend. When 0:21:56.080 --> 0:22:01.960 miss Day's son was notified, Warren was told that she 0:22:02.080 --> 0:22:05.199 had a small knock to the noggin but that she 0:22:05.359 --> 0:22:11.040 was fine. Clearly that is not true. Miss Day was 0:22:11.040 --> 0:22:14.840 taken by ambulance to the Bendigo Hospital and when her 0:22:14.960 --> 0:22:22.320 children arrived, the site was shocking. Her daughter April describes 0:22:23.160 --> 0:22:26.520 she was on the bed, she had tubes and she 0:22:26.600 --> 0:22:29.679 was strapped down, But it was the bruise that was 0:22:29.720 --> 0:22:33.280 on her head that was the most noticeable because I 0:22:33.320 --> 0:22:35.359 thought to myself, for it to be that big and 0:22:35.480 --> 0:22:40.760 that black, she must have really hurt herself. What we 0:22:40.880 --> 0:22:48.080 don't know is how Auntie Tanya became so injured. What 0:22:48.200 --> 0:22:51.840 we don't know is how Auntie Tanya received that mortal 0:22:51.840 --> 0:22:57.720 wound that he's still being investigated. As I say, by 0:22:57.760 --> 0:23:03.840 a coronial inquest. Victoria Police have commented a number of 0:23:03.880 --> 0:23:07.040 times that it would be inappropriate to provide comment on 0:23:07.119 --> 0:23:13.280 the matter because it is before the coroner. But Curtin 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:17.480 the podcast is unafraid to call to the public attention 0:23:17.640 --> 0:23:21.879 the issues that the case of Arnie Tanna Curly highlights. 0:23:24.240 --> 0:23:27.520 One of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal 0:23:27.600 --> 0:23:32.000 debts in custody was to abolish the crime of public drunkenness. 0:23:32.840 --> 0:23:36.080 It was clear twenty eight years ago that this was 0:23:36.119 --> 0:23:39.639 a law used to target Aboriginal and Torrestraate Island at people. 0:23:42.000 --> 0:23:46.600 It's still in Victoria has not been abolished. Just like 0:23:46.680 --> 0:23:50.080 the family in Western Australia, the Day family in Victoria 0:23:50.480 --> 0:23:57.120 also lost a loved one. Arnie Tagner's late uncle, Harrison Day, 0:23:58.560 --> 0:24:03.159 died in police custody for not paying a fine for 0:24:03.240 --> 0:24:07.400 public drunkenness. His death was examined by the Royal Commission. 0:24:10.000 --> 0:24:13.000 But what is public drunkenness and why is it still 0:24:13.000 --> 0:24:17.919 a crime in Victoria. Public drunkenness is quite simply as 0:24:17.960 --> 0:24:23.359 the name suggests, being drunk in public. This is purely 0:24:23.400 --> 0:24:28.359 down to the discretion of the police officers who attend 0:24:28.800 --> 0:24:33.760 each individual case. We have no idea on that day 0:24:34.280 --> 0:24:39.520 how much alcohol Arnie Tagna had consumed, but that it 0:24:39.600 --> 0:24:42.639 was purely at the discretion of the police to remove 0:24:42.680 --> 0:24:45.160 her from the train instead of allowing her to continue 0:24:45.200 --> 0:24:48.560 to see her family, and to place her in a cell. 0:24:49.880 --> 0:24:54.280 They say they did that for her own protection and 0:24:54.320 --> 0:24:59.480 her own safety. Just like the young woman who died 0:24:59.680 --> 0:25:03.120 in least custody in Western Australia. How could it be 0:25:03.160 --> 0:25:08.680 for Arnie Tanya's safety to put her in a cell where, 0:25:08.680 --> 0:25:12.600 for reasons yet to be determined, she died before the 0:25:12.640 --> 0:25:16.960 police arrived. She was on a train asleep, heading to 0:25:17.080 --> 0:25:22.479 family in Melbourne. We do not know what happened in 0:25:22.520 --> 0:25:25.640 that cell, but we do know there was no reason 0:25:25.880 --> 0:25:29.560 to arrest Arnie Tanna on that day. How and why 0:25:29.600 --> 0:25:36.080 do we know this picture Melbourne On any winter weekend, 0:25:37.720 --> 0:25:42.160 roughly two hundred thousand people each weekend attend AFL football 0:25:42.200 --> 0:25:48.040 matches at the stadiums that dot Melbourne and Greater Victoria. 0:25:48.880 --> 0:25:54.200 Large amounts of alcohol are served. People leave that public 0:25:54.280 --> 0:25:59.280 stadium and enter into the public domain. Some go straight 0:25:59.280 --> 0:26:04.560 home via public transport, Others go on to restaurants, nightclubs, 0:26:05.840 --> 0:26:12.200 and about their business. Why those people never arrested. Expand 0:26:12.240 --> 0:26:16.480 it further, If public drunkenness is such a crime, why 0:26:16.560 --> 0:26:19.119 is every single person who leaves a pub or a 0:26:19.119 --> 0:26:24.000 club having consumed alcohol not arrested the moment they step 0:26:24.040 --> 0:26:30.840 on the footpath. The answer is quite obvious. Only Aboriginal 0:26:30.880 --> 0:26:33.920 people are targeted by this law, and that is exactly 0:26:34.000 --> 0:26:39.120 why the Royal Commission in nineteen ninety one, twenty eight 0:26:39.320 --> 0:26:47.600 long years ago, recommended that this law be scrapped. But 0:26:47.720 --> 0:26:52.080 let's look also at the actions of police. Go to 0:26:52.119 --> 0:26:56.840 any capital city in Australia on any night and near 0:26:56.920 --> 0:27:02.600 the districts where pubs and clubs flourish. Young people, old people, 0:27:03.240 --> 0:27:07.159 people of every background are seen outside of these pubs 0:27:07.200 --> 0:27:12.440 and clubs and walking the streets heavily intoxicated. Many are 0:27:12.480 --> 0:27:17.119 so drunk they're violently ill. These people are not detained 0:27:17.200 --> 0:27:21.720 and handcuffed by police and put in a cell. These people, 0:27:21.800 --> 0:27:24.040 if they are so sick they are at risk to 0:27:24.119 --> 0:27:27.240 their own health, have an ambulance called and they're taken 0:27:27.280 --> 0:27:30.120 to the hospital, or they are placed in the care 0:27:30.200 --> 0:27:34.080 of a friend or a family member and taken home, 0:27:34.760 --> 0:27:39.159 either by police by private transport, or via public transport. 0:27:39.960 --> 0:27:43.560 They're not arrested simply for doing something that is completely 0:27:43.680 --> 0:27:49.040 legal in Australia, consuming alcohol. So again we have to 0:27:49.080 --> 0:27:53.840 ask why was Aunt Tania targeted. This was not late 0:27:53.880 --> 0:27:59.399 at night. She was harming nobody, She was causing trouble 0:27:59.440 --> 0:28:05.639 to nobody. No one had complained, There was no issue 0:28:05.840 --> 0:28:10.160 other than being an Aboriginal woman on a train going 0:28:10.200 --> 0:28:16.040 to see her family. What makes this even more infuriating 0:28:16.240 --> 0:28:21.320 is that Artie Tanna was doing exactly the thing police 0:28:22.160 --> 0:28:27.040 and public health officials always ask the entire community to 0:28:27.119 --> 0:28:32.359 do that if you've been drinking, not to drive, take 0:28:32.400 --> 0:28:37.960 public transport, take a taxi, call a friend, do anything 0:28:38.000 --> 0:28:42.440 but get behind the wheel. Arnie Tanna did exactly that 0:28:42.760 --> 0:28:46.640 and boarded a train. But rather than being allowed to 0:28:46.720 --> 0:28:51.640 continue to her loving family and her children, she was 0:28:51.680 --> 0:28:55.400 placed in a cell, the most dangerous place in Australia 0:28:55.520 --> 0:28:59.080 for any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person in the 0:28:59.120 --> 0:29:05.400 custody of or in one of their cells, just like 0:29:05.480 --> 0:29:09.120 the young woman in Western Australia, Just like so many 0:29:09.160 --> 0:29:14.200 Aboriginal Arrestraate Islander people who have died in custody, Arnie 0:29:14.200 --> 0:29:19.320 Tanya was in good health. She was fifty five, but 0:29:19.440 --> 0:29:23.480 she was a young fifty five. She was a member 0:29:23.480 --> 0:29:29.280 of her local gym, She ate good food, and having 0:29:29.320 --> 0:29:33.680 previously suffered trauma in her life, she was doing what 0:29:33.760 --> 0:29:36.760 we hope for all of our loved ones, for all 0:29:36.800 --> 0:29:42.920 of our community members, for anyone in our society. She 0:29:43.000 --> 0:29:47.800 was making the most of her life, a life cruelly 0:29:47.840 --> 0:29:52.720 cut short by police. And even as they continue to 0:29:52.800 --> 0:29:58.600 battle for justice for Arnie Tena, her family continue to 0:29:58.640 --> 0:30:04.880 be treated as poorly as their mother was. During hearings 0:30:05.840 --> 0:30:09.800 into just what happened to their mother, a police officer 0:30:10.000 --> 0:30:13.440 entered the building carrying a paper bag that contained the 0:30:13.480 --> 0:30:17.560 belongings of Arnie Tenure. Her family had been trying to 0:30:17.640 --> 0:30:23.120 get those belongings back since she passed away. In front 0:30:23.200 --> 0:30:27.960 of her children, that police officer sat with the paper 0:30:27.960 --> 0:30:32.840 bag with her belongings at his feet. Why couldn't those 0:30:32.880 --> 0:30:36.720 belongings have been given back to her family? Why did 0:30:36.720 --> 0:30:40.400 a police officer have to so clearly make them visible 0:30:40.600 --> 0:30:43.640 in front of her children who were in their grief 0:30:44.040 --> 0:30:49.680 a fighting to get justice for their mum. Clearly, if 0:30:49.800 --> 0:30:54.040 Victoria police can't treat a person with respect and dignity 0:30:54.080 --> 0:30:58.560 and death. They can't do it when someone is living. 0:31:00.000 --> 0:31:03.720 Continue to update you on just what occurs in the 0:31:03.760 --> 0:31:07.960 coronial inquest into the death of Arnie Tanner day, but 0:31:08.120 --> 0:31:13.320 please support the family on social media. You can follow 0:31:13.360 --> 0:31:17.720 their Instagram and Facebook accounts at Justice for Tenure Day. 0:31:18.920 --> 0:31:21.640 There you'll also find a petition that we would urge 0:31:21.640 --> 0:31:24.680 you to sign that is calling on the Premiere of 0:31:24.760 --> 0:31:31.680 Victoria Daniel Andrews to immediately abolish these ridiculous and inhumane 0:31:31.800 --> 0:31:37.480 laws that deal with public drunkenness, designed to target Aboriginal 0:31:37.520 --> 0:31:40.480 and Torres Strait Islander people and that leads to so 0:31:40.680 --> 0:31:46.880 many unnecessary and unlawful deaths. No more families should suffer 0:31:47.280 --> 0:31:52.560 and as we call for this, please rally around Arnie 0:31:52.600 --> 0:31:56.880 Tanner's family tomorrow. You can do so by attending a 0:31:56.960 --> 0:32:01.480 direction's hearing at the Coroner's Court into South Bank, Melbourne 0:32:01.560 --> 0:32:06.560 at ten am. That's Tuesday, the thirtieth of April. These cruel, 0:32:07.360 --> 0:32:12.520 needless and unjust deaths will only stop when Australia turns 0:32:12.640 --> 0:32:17.320 and faces the original sin of this country, the continued 0:32:17.680 --> 0:32:21.680 murdering and destruction of the lives of Aboriginal and Torres 0:32:21.720 --> 0:32:26.520 straight Islander people and that can't change. While the national 0:32:26.560 --> 0:32:30.840 broadcast of the ABC continues to place its focus on 0:32:30.880 --> 0:32:35.640 the United States, we show our solidarity always on curtain 0:32:35.720 --> 0:32:38.880 the podcast with those fighting for justice around the world. 0:32:39.720 --> 0:32:43.120 Here you've heard about cases like Rodney Reid in Texas, 0:32:43.960 --> 0:32:46.680 but it's time the world turns their attention to what's 0:32:46.720 --> 0:32:50.080 being done to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people like 0:32:50.200 --> 0:32:55.880 Kevin Henry, like Miss Dew, like Derek Bromley, like Miss Marr, 0:32:56.400 --> 0:32:59.800 and like so many others. Call for the change and 0:32:59.800 --> 0:33:04.240 be active in creating that change, and we'll walk with you. 0:33:06.800 --> 0:33:08.640 That was kurtin the podcast.