A large crowd gathered on the steps of the Victorian Parliament in Naarm on Friday night to protest the death in custody of 24-year-old Warlpiri man Kumanjayi White and the NT government's ongoing refusal to hold an independent inquiry.
Mr White, who had ties to the Yuendumu community, was under state guardianship and living in supported accommodation at the time of his death. He died after being restrained by two plain-clothed NT Police officers following an alleged altercation with a security guard at a Coles supermarket.
Despite calls from Mr White's family, Indigenous leaders, legal and human rights organisations — and the federal Minister for Indigenous Australians — both the NT Police and Chief Minister have refused to allow an independent investigation, despite the force's alleged commitment to transparency.
On Friday evening, a massive crowd braved the rain to attend the vigil. Among the speakers was Mr White's grandfather, Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, who shared a song he had written.
Mr Hargraves told of the deep pain and grief felt by both his family and the Yuendumu community, especially with the long-awaited inquest findings into the 2019 police shooting of Kumanjayi Walker due in the coming weeks.
"We can't go on like this, we can't live like this," Mr Hargraves said.
"My jaja (grandson) was killed for no good reason."
Every speaker expressed anger toward police and over the nearly 600 Indigenous deaths in custody since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody brought down its findings in 1991.
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe, who this week called for the full implementation of the Royal Commission's recommendations, backed the family's calls for an independent inquiry, the release of CCTV footage, and the suspension of the officers involved.
"The family want to see the footage so it is not tampered with by the system," she said.
"We need to listen to the family's calls for an independent investigation. It should not be business as usual."
Acting Police Commissioner Martin Dole has defended the internal investigation, arguing an external inquiry could compromise "further action being taken". However, similar investigations in other states are routinely handled by oversight bodies, such as the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission in NSW.
NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro, who also serves as Police Minister, has also categorically ruled out an independent inquiry.
On Tuesday, National Indigenous Times reported none of the officers allegedly involved in Mr White's arrest have been stood down — more than a week after his death in Mparntwe/Alice Springs.
It is understood one of the officers involved is NT prosecutor Steven Haig.
Addressing the crowd, Senator Thorpe expressed outrage over the lack of action.
"They are still walking the beat like it is business as usual.
"What are we doing in this country?"
Senator Thorpe said Labor's overwhelming majority in federal parliament left them without excuses to take action.
"We're here to say 'no more' and we'll continue to come out and rally," she said.
April Day, whose daughter Tanya Day died in police custody in 2017, said Mr White had been "criminalised".
In a letter read aloud by Senator Thorpe, Ms Day wrote: "Where is the compassion, where is the empathy for our Mob with a disability? Being hungry should never be a death sentence. The system doesn't make it easy for our families; it breaks them."
