31-07-2025
Lidia Thorpe puts forward motion on ‘shameful' deaths in custody numbers
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe put forward a motion in the Senate Thursday morning, extending sympathies to the families of the 17 First Nations people who have died in custody this year, including 24-year-old Warlpiri man Kumanjayi White who died in May after being restrained by officers at an Alice Springs supermarket. The motion coincides with the release of the latest Closing the Gap report, which revealed only four of 19 targets were on track to be met by 2031. Thorpe also spoke of the impact on her family after the death of her cousin, Joshua Kerr, a 32-year-old Yorta Yorta and Gunaikurnai man who died in custody in August 2022
