Calls for justice and action on deaths in custody
Vigils calling for justice are continuing across Australia as part of a national week of action following the death of a young Aboriginal man in police custody.
Kumanjayi White, 24, who had a mental disability, died on May 27 shortly after being forcibly restrained by two plain-clothes police officers inside a supermarket in Alice Springs.
His death has sparked national outcry, with his family demanding an independent inquiry and for the officers involved to be stood down.
Speaking at a rally outside Victoria's parliament on Friday, Mr White's grandfather, Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, said his grandson was "killed for no good reason."
"What have we done to you. We are supposed to be working together in harmony but (police) are taking away our lives," he said.
"He was not a criminal. He was a quiet, young man."
The rally was also attended by Krauatungalung Elder Uncle Robbie Thorpe, Senator Lidia Thorpe, and Aunty Donna Kerr, the mother of Joshua Kerr.
Ms Kerr spoke of the urgent need for justice, recalling how her own son, an Indigenous man, was found unconscious in his prison cell and later died in August 2022.
"Shame on this country. Shame on what they have done to our kids and families in incarceration. There is not a day that goes past where I pinch myself because my son is never coming home," she said.
"How are we here today, going three years since my boy, now another child, shame. Justice is what we want in this country."
About 300 people attended the vigil on the steps of Victorian parliament, holding signs that read "Who is the real thief?" and "Genocide in progress".
Senator Thorpe said more must be done to stop the "genocide" in Australia, noting it had been five years since the global Black Lives Matter movement was ignited after the police killing of George Floyd in the US.
She vowed to support the family's call for an independent investigation into police.
NT Police on Friday confirmed the officers had not been stood down.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro rejected calls for an external investigation, saying police are the right authority to carry it out coupled with a coronial inquiry.
Vigils have been organised across the nation, including Sydney, Brisbane, and Wollongong on Saturday with events in Perth and Adelaide to follow on Sunday.
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Herald Sun
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- Herald Sun
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Sydney Morning Herald
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That report, which had previously not been released, assessed one large area proposed to be subdivided north of Seaward Drive and found the boundary could remain. This was also the view of the planning minister at the time of the review. 'The committee supports the position of the proponent [planning minister] that the area defined for residential growth in Cape Paterson be upheld,' the report said. The report found further work to refine the boundary was 'unnecessary', that the boundaries were not a 'green light for urban development at any cost', and rules still required landscape character and environment to be considered in any development seeking approval. Bernard Collins, from development consultants Beveridge Williams, has been advising one group of prospective developers. He said their clients did everything asked of them as part of the process and had prepared the site so it was ready for future development and to become an established part of the town. 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Victorian executive director of the Property Council Cath Evans said the decision 'contradicts the evidence-based process that had been followed for more than a decade'. 'The sudden change not only undermines trust in long-term planning but also sets a concerning precedent for future developments,' she said. 'This could result in driving away further investment and development urgently needed to meet our state's ambitious housing targets.' A Bass Coast Shire Council spokesperson said an assessment had confirmed there was still enough supply to meet council's obligations for housing without needing the northern land.
