Senator Lidia Thorpe has accused the Northern Territory Police of being "racist" and labelled the NT Chief Minister "out of touch" and "complicit in the ongoing genocide against our people".
Speaking on ABC Radio National Breakfast on Tuesday, the Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung independent senator renewed her call for "federal leadership" in response to the death in custody of 24-year-old Warlpiri man Kumanjayi White, who died two weeks ago after being restrained by two plain-clothed NT Police officers in Mparntwe/Alice Springs.
Mr White was under state guardianship and living in supported accommodation at the time.
Protests have since taken place across the country — including in Naarm/Melbourne, Sydney, Magandjin/Brisbane, Darwin, Wollongong and Mparntwe/Alice Springs — calling for an independent investigation.
Senator Thorpe cited evidence from the 2019 police shooting of Warlpiri-Luritja man Kumanjayi Walker to argue the NT Police "are racist".
"Family do not trust the Northern Territory police," she said. "And we need federal leadership. We need the Fed to step in here."
Mr Walker, 19, was shot three times at close range by then-Constable Zachary Rolfe during a failed arrest in Yuendumu. Mr Rolfe was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges in 2022.
During the inquest into Mr Walker's death, racist text messages sent by Rolfe were presented as evidence. Counsel for the NT Police conceded: "It is absolutely undeniable that Mr Rolfe is a racist."
NT Coroner Elisabeth Armitage described much of the evidence as "deeply disturbing", including allegations of racism and violence within the police force.
Despite consistent calls from Mr White's family, Indigenous leaders, legal advocates, and the Minister for Indigenous Australians, the NT government continues to reject demands for an independent investigation.
In response to Senator Malarndirri McCarthy's suggestion that an independent inquiry may be appropriate, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro called the respected Aboriginal Senator's remarks "uneducated" and "unhelpful."
Asked to respond, Senator Thorpe said Ms Finocchiaro's comments revealed "how out of touch" she is, arguing she is "complicit in the ongoing genocide against our people".
To clarify her position, Senator Thorpe referred to Article II of the United Nations' definition of Genocide, which defines it as "causing serious bodily or mental harm to members" of a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.
"The ongoing killings of our people in custody is ongoing harm of our people; the incarceration rates of our people — particularly in the Northern Territory [and] particularly of our children — is an act of genocide," she said.
"The stealing of children and putting them in with white families is an act of genocide. So we meet all the definitions of genocide, and I've certainly seen that over my time."
She concluded: "So, the Chief Minister is complicit."
Commonwealth needs to do more
According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, at least 597 First Nations people have died in custody since the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Twelve of those deaths have occurred in 2025.
No one has been found guilty in connection with any of them.
On Monday, Labor MP Marion Scrymgour also criticised the federal government for failing to take action.
Arguing the government "needs to show the leadership," the newly appointed special envoy for remote communities said: "Aboriginal people are being completely ostracised and victimised, and people are dying."
Ms Scrymgour said a full review of the 1991 Royal Commission recommendations is needed:
"The federal government needs to have a look at all of those recommendations, and certainly, as the federal member, I'll be talking to Minister Malarndirri McCarthy, the new Attorney-General Michelle Rowland and also [Home Affairs Minister] Tony Burke to have a look at where are we at with this."
"This needs the leadership from our cabinet … everyone's taken their eye off the ball in terms of the recommendations."
The Albanese government has consistently refused to criticise states and territories — other than in broad, generic statements — even as some jurisdictions enact laws contravening the Closing the Gap agreement and the Royal Commission's findings.
It prompted eminent barrister, Tony McAvoy SC, to argue last month that all the states "know what they are doing".
"They know that their legislation is inconsistent with the international conventions and norms," he said.
He previously urged the Commonwealth to do more, telling a Senate inquiry in February: "It is not a question of if the Commonwealth should act, but what it should do."
Speaking at the National Press Club on Tuesday, the PM dismissed calls for intervention in Mr White's case or the Northern Territory.
"I need to be convinced that people in Canberra know better than people in the Northern Territory about how to deal with these issues, is my starting point," he said.
Senator Thorpe told ABC RN the country needed "federal leadership".
"We need the feds to step in here. We need the prime minister to come out," she said.
"He came out on vaping. He came out on social media to stop kids from accessing social media. He called the states and territories to account for those issues. So he needs to do the same for deaths in custody."
