Heartbroken but hoping for change: Kumanjayi Walker's family prepare for coroner's final report

SBS Australia

7 hours ago

Kumanjayi Walker was only 19 when he died on November 9, 2019, after former Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe shot him three times at close range in his home community of Yuendumu. For more than five long years his family has fought for whatever justice they might be able to find. The coronial inquest into the teenager's death, beset by delays and extensions, has run for several years.
As the family prepare for the Northern Territory's coroner to hand down her final report on Monday, they are calling for truth and accountability.
Rolfe was charged with murder after the shooting but acquitted at trial. Over three years, the coronial inquest has heard hundreds of hours of evidence from Kumanjayi Walker's family, community members, Aboriginal leaders and police officers. His family said in a statement that the testimony has been heartbreaking and confronting, shining a light on the failings that contributed to Kumanjayi's death, including systemic racism throughout the ranks of NT Police , Zachary Rolfe's background and conduct on the night of the shooting. "The inquest testimony confirmed our family's belief that Rolfe is not a 'bad egg' in the NT Police force, but a symptom of a system that disregards and brutalises our people," they said.
"Crucially, the inquest heard evidence backing a return to full community-control, stating what yapa (Aboriginal people) have always known: when we can self-determine our futures and self-govern our communities, our people are stronger, our outcomes are better, our culture thrives."
Family spokesperson Samara Fernandez-Brown said the death of her cousin has devastated their family and the Warlpiri community. "We miss him and feel his loss deeply every single day, it will stain our country for generations to come," she said. 'The inquest into his death has been gruelling, shocking and devastating."
Throughout the inquest, Kumanjayi's family and community have stood strong, showed up and listened to all the ways that he was failed, Ms Fernandez-Brown said.
'Racism killed Kumanjayi – racism from NT Police, the NT Government, from Zachary Rolfe, yet none of them have ever been held to account for Kumanjayi's death," she said. 'We are heartbroken and exhausted after many long years, but we are hoping change is coming. "We have faith that the truth will finally be told, and want to see real change so that we can finally start our healing."
Senior Warlpiri Elder Ned Hargraves issued a request to Acting NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole.
'If the NT Police come to Yuendumu for the findings, we ask you this: come with no guns, and come with an intention to hear us and listen to us," he said. 'We are not interested in Martin Dole coming to Yuendumu just with empty words. "If he is just coming to say sorry he is not welcome - how many times have they said sorry and still harmed us?"
During the inquest for Kumanjayi Walker Warlpiri people called for no more guns in the community.
"If Dole comes with news of real change that would be different, if he said police would put down their guns like we wanted, yes, he would be welcome," Uncle Ned said. "But they are now giving out more guns to more police to shoot our people." Throughout the inquest Warlpiri families and communities have been calling for an independent police ombudsman; power returned to Yuendumu and Aboriginal communities through self-governance, self-determination and full community control; divestment from prisons and punitive policing, and investment in culturally safe, community-led alternatives; the banning of guns and an end to the excessive use of force and racially discriminatory policing and a reckoning with the NT's mass incarceration crisis, especially the systematic over-incarceration of Aboriginal people and criminalisation of children.
Kumanjayi's family and community have travelled to Alice Springs courthouse for hearings since the inquest began in 2022.
"While we have waited for these findings another young Warlpiri man, Kumanjayi White, was taken from us when he died in police custody in Alice Springs in May this year," their statement said. "This loss has left us heartbroken once again, but we are determined to keep fighting for justice for all our people. "The Coroner has heard our truth, she has come to our community, she has heard expert evidence, which supports our calls for change: changes which will establish a sense of hope for our people. "If the Coroner does not include these recommendations in her findings, we will feel heartbroken and utterly let down." The coronial inquest into Kumanjayi Walker's death began in September 2022.
Coroner Elisabeth Armitage is due to hand down her final report on Country in Yuendumu on Monday.