NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro tears into coroner who presented Kumanjayi Walker inquest findings in Yuendumu in front of an Indigenous activist banner

Sky News AU

10 hours ago

Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro says the coroner has questions to answer about the way she delivered her findings into the death of Kumanjayi Walker, an Indigenous man shot dead by police.
But as the Government continued its criticism of Coroner Elisabeth Armitage, a senior barrister said the attacks were 'personal' and an attempt to distract from the gravity of her findings.
Last week Sky News revealed former police officer Zachary Rolfe, who shot Walker dead at Yuendumu in November 2019, had made a formal complaint to the NT Judicial Commission accusing Ms Armitage of bias.
Part of his complaint relates to the coroner delivering her findings at the PAW Media building in Yuendumu in front of a banner belonging to an activist group that had previously called for Mr Rolfe to be speared in an act of customary lore.
Asked on Mix FM radio if she thought it was appropriate for the coroner to deliver her findings in front of the banner, Mrs Finocchiaro said: 'Of course not. Now, if you give the benefit of the doubt it was put up while she was speaking so the coroner might not have been aware that it had happened - certainly her staff would have been there and would have seen it as did the rest of the universe.
'There's valid questions to be raised, obviously Mr Rolfe is availing himself of that opportunity and all positions come with a level of accountability and the coroner's no exception to that.'
But barrister Phillip Boulten SC, who represented the North Australia Aboriginal Justice Agency at the inquest, told Sky News the decision did not indicate bias on the part of the coroner.
'The banner shouldn't have been there but the coroner didn't put it there,' he said.
'The coroner had her spot marked out, she went to the spot that had been marked out but by the time she got there someone had put it there. You can't blame the coroner for that and it certainly doesn't demonstrate bias on her part, that someone put a banner up.'
Mr Boulten slammed the Finocchiaro Government for its attacks on Ms Armitage since she delivered her final report into Walker's death last month, which said Mr Rolfe was a racist and that should couldn't rule out the possibility racism played a part in Walker's death.
'The attacks against this coroner are personal, they are driven by a very basic opposition to her findings,' Mr Boulten said.
'It is uncomfortable for the government to hear a judicial officer call out systemic, racist attitudes in the police force in the Northern Territory.'
Mrs Finocchiaro said the government maintained confidence in the coroner but had concerns about the length and cost of some of her inquiries.
The inquest into Mr Walker's death, which took almost three years, has cost three NT Government departments more than $8 million.
The Government has since flagged possible changes to the Coroner's Act.
'There's a way in which sometimes the coroner chooses to do things certainly grates a lot of people the wrong way and I'm sure it has people who love it as well, so it's one of those things but accountability is what's really important,' Mrs Finocchiaro said.
'We don't believe these things should be dragged on as long as they are being, we don't believe they should be costing as much as they are, so it's something we've got to take a look at and the Attorney-General is leading that work.'
Minister for the Prevention of Family and Domestic Robyn Cahill also criticised the coroner last week, describing her final report into the deaths of four Aboriginal women killed in domestic violence incidents as 'uninspiring' and 'underwhelming'.
Mr Boulten said the Government's criticism of the coroner was short-sighted and reactionary.
'It should be time for a government to be considering what they can do (to respond to her findings), rather than to attack the coroner,' he said.