The family of Kumanjayi Walker says Northern Territory Police must be held accountable for the Warlpiri-Luritja man's death, more than five years after he was fatally shot by former NT police officer Zachary Rolfe.
Mr Walker, 19, was killed in the remote community of Yuendumu — 300 kilometres northwest of Alice Springs — in November 2019 when Mr Rolfe shot him three times at close range during a failed arrest attempt.
Mr Rolfe was acquitted of both murder and manslaughter charges in March 2022 following a high-profile Supreme Court trial. He was the first NT police officer in almost a century to be charged with murder while on duty.
On Monday, Coroner Elisabeth Armitage will hand down her findings following a lengthy inquest, which has been marked by multiple delays, extensions and legal challenges.
Mr Walker's family — who have campaigned nationally for justice — say the inquest has confirmed what many in the community already knew: that systemic racism is embedded in the NT Police.
"This system is violent, racist, and broken," they say in a statement.
"Hearing 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.
"Crucially, the inquest heard evidence backing a return to full community-control, stating what yapa 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."
The family are calling for a ban of guns and the end to excessive force; police to be held accountable for violence, racism and deaths in custody; divestment from prisons and punitive policing; and a "reckoning with the Northern Territory's mass incarceration crisis".
Mr Walker's cousin, Samara Fernandez-Brown, has been one of the most prominent voices calling for reform.
"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."
She added the impact of Walker's death would be felt across generations.
"The inquest into his death has been gruelling, shocking and devastating. Throughout it, our families and communities have stood strong, showed up and listened to all the ways that Kumanjayi was failed."
Senior Warlpiri Elder and the late Mr Walker's grandfather, Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, called for police to attend Yuendumu unarmed, should they come to deliver the coroner's findings.
"We are not interested in [Acting NT Police Commissioner] 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?" he said.
"During the inquest for Kumanjayi Walker we demanded 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. But they are now giving out more guns to more police to shoot our people."
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The inquest, which closed in November last year, became the longest-running in Australian history. It generated more than 5,000 pages of transcripts and 1,990 pages of written submissions.
In her closing remarks, counsel assisting the coroner, Dr Peggy Dwyer, said Mr Rolfe's attitude and conduct should be directly connected to Mr Walker's death.
"Mr Rolfe was a man whose ego was wrapped up in his use of force and who took pride in and derived a sense of worth from expressing his dominance over others," Dr Dwyer said.
"They were generally Aboriginal men and he expressed that dominance with the use of force."
Text messages presented to the inquest revealed racist language and derogatory terms used by Mr Rolf, with NT Police counsel Ian Freckelton KC telling the inquest: "It is absolutely undeniable that Mr Rolfe is a racist."
"People who talk about 'loser locals, coons, Neanderthals' … on the basis of their Aboriginality, are racists and it's important to call it as it is," he said.
Mr Rolfe told the inquest the elite TRG gave racist mock awards to members who displayed the most "Aboriginal-like behaviour"—referred to as "c--n of the year" or "Nugedah" award..
NT Police rejected the existence of such awards, tendering four statements from senior TRG officers denying the claim.
In another revelation, a 2008 parody version of Monopoly was found, where every square on the board instructed players to "go to jail".
Despite the disturbing findings, Dr Freckelton maintained that racism is not a characteristic of the NT Police force — a stance strongly contested by many Aboriginal Territorians.
"For us, it has been something that has existed forever," Ms Fernandez-Brown said in a previous interview with National Indigenous Times.
"I think when you work within the police force, it's hard for us to believe that anybody within the police force doesn't know that racism exists, because it comes across so obviously to us, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people."
Mr Rolfe's lawyer, Luke Officer, argued racism was not legally relevant to the shooting and should not be considered in the coroner's findings.
Even with Justice Armitage's conclusions due Monday, there is no guarantee the NT Government will adopt any recommendations, especially given Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro's past defence of police and resistance to criticism.
Nevertheless, with the nation's attention on Yuendumu and the broader issue of Indigenous deaths in custody, the coroner's final report may carry significant weight.
