The Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory Aboriginal Corporation "stands in full and unapologetic solidarity" with the communities across the NT who are mourning the loss of two lives in police custody within the fortnight.
The corporation, which is an alliance of Aboriginal peak bodies in the Territory, backed their member organisations' calls for immediate police reform.
APO NT Chair Dr John Paterson said o Tuesday: "We've had enough."
"We will not allow this government to look the other way. Every time an Aboriginal person dies in custody, the government says 'never again'. But here we are again – within a fortnight, and on the date we were expected to hear the findings of the coronial inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker," he said.
"This is an absolute national shame and it has to stop.
"We extend our deepest condolences to the families and communities of the two men who have lost their lives. We are devastated. But more than that - we are furious. Because this keeps happening. Our people keep dying, and still nothing changes."
APONT expressed outrage that both Kumanjayi White and the Senior Wadeye Elder's vulnerabilities "were met not with care, but with criminalisation".
"Instead of dignity, they were met with dehumanisation. And now, their families are left with grief, and we are left with two preventable deaths. This is heartbreaking and a great shame," Dr Paterson said.
APONT noted that the deaths of the two men "reflect a system that is not broken, but functioning as it has been designed: to control, contain, and silence Aboriginal lives".
APO NT backed the calls for an independent investigation and inquiry now into both deaths., noting that the intersection of poverty, disability, systemic racism, and state neglect continues to produce fatal outcomes for Aboriginal people.
"Prior to these two recent tragedies, there had already been 12 Aboriginal deaths in custody this year. That's not a statistic—it's a national disgrace," Dr Paterson said.
"A country that allows its First Peoples to die in care, repeatedly, is not simply in moral crisis - it is in collapse."
APONT said it is clear policing and justice policy in the Northern Territory must change.
"The culture of impunity within NT Police - where Aboriginal people are surveyed, targeted, and too often harmed - cannot continue," the organisation said in a statement.
Dr Paterson said: "We are not asking for change—we are demanding it. Not one more inquiry that leads nowhere. Not one more internal review that protects the system instead of the people. The time for soft statements and polite inaction is over."
"We are ready to put in the hard work, for justice and for healing. We have always been ready," said Dr Paterson.
"Chief Minister, your promise was to govern for all Territorians. Hold to that promise now. Meet with us. Work with us. And finally - act with us. We cannot withstand another preventable death."
