NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro blasts federal politicians for calling for independent investigation into Aboriginal death in custody
Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has hit out at federal politicians calling for an independent investigation into the death in custody of an Aboriginal man in Alice Springs, saying their attempts to politicise the issue are appalling.
Kumanjayi White, a 24-year-old Warlpiri man with a disability, died after he was arrested by two plain-clothed police officers in the Coles Supermarket in Alice Springs on May 27.
His family have called for an independent investigation into his death and for police to release CCTV of the incident.
Those calls have been backed by Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy and Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour, who has recommended the Australian Federal Police take over the investigation.
Mrs Finocchiaro was questioned about the issue at the Northern Territory Parliament's budget estimates committee.
'The comments being made by federal members of parliament are quite frankly appalling; they should know better,' she said.
'This is a very sad time for the community; our police have an incredibly important job to do, and the politicisation of this issue helps no-one. It does not support our police or the Coroner to do their work, or the families who are grieving and communities who want answers.'
Acting Police Commissioner Martin Dole told the committee the calls for an independent investigation were misinformed.
'The Police Administration Act establishes the police force of the Northern Territory and sets out what our roles and responsibilities are. They are to investigate these matters and criminality within the Northern Territory, and that is where this current investigation is sitting,' he said.
'It is inappropriate for us to bring someone from another jurisdiction who does not have the expertise in Territory legislation and the numerous case law rulings and difficulties that investigators in the Territory have to navigate through.
'The Territory community is best served with the experts who do this work every single day of the week, and I have complete confidence in their ability to do so.
'The call for an independent investigation is probably slightly misinformed by the people who do not understand the processes in place. There is plenty of oversight to those investigations with the mechanisms available already in the Northern Territory.'
Community action group Justice Not Jails condemned the Chief Minister's comments and said if there was a statutory bar preventing an investigation then the government should amend its legislation.
The group said police must be removed from the investigation into the death of Kumanjayi White and of 'TN', a 68-year-old elder from the remote Indigenous community of Wadeye who died in custody on June 7.
'Last year NT Police delivered an apology to Indigenous Territorians and promised to do things differently,' spokesman Stephen Enciso said.
'That apology means nothing unless NT Police and the government are willing to relinquish control over the investigation into the death of Kumanjayi White and now this latest death in custody as well.'
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