The family of the late Northern Territory Supreme Court Justice James Henry Muirhead AC QC has called on the Prime Minister to step in and override what they describe as the "regressive actions currently being pursued by the Northern Territory Government" regarding justice and incarceration.
In an open letter to Anthony Albanese, signed by Janet Muirhead, Richard Muirhead AM, Bill Muirhead and Tim Muirhead, they criticised a series of "tough on crime" policies introduced since the Country Liberal Party (CLP) came to power, including lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 10, reintroducing spit hoods in youth detention, and expanding mandatory sentencing.
The letter argues these measures are "ineffective" in preventing crime and "demonstrably harmful".
"They punish the vulnerable, fuel cycles of trauma and recidivism, and ignore decades of research into what actually works to build safer communities," the family wrote.
Their calls for the government to intervene come amid growing condemnation from human rights, legal and Indigenous organisations over the NT government's laws, which critics say have fuelled an Indigenous incarceration crisis. The North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) said recent changes to the Youth Justice Act will result in more Aboriginal children being jailed without tackling the causes of crime.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has defended the reforms, saying she makes "no apologies" for toughening up a "broken system," arguing she expected "the usual offender apologists to criticise our efforts".
The NT Chief Minister has routinely pushed back on accusations of human rights abuse, often berating advocates.
She told a group of NT paediatricians who had written to her expressing "deep concern" over the youth justice changes that they were "wasting their time".
"I will do my job, which is to run the NT, and they can do their job, which is to look after sick children," she said in Parliament, whilst also labelling Opposition Leader Selena Uibo the "biggest gutter trash politician in the chamber".
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The Muirhead family acknowledged public frustration over crime, including serious domestic violence, but argued the response must be both effective and humane.
"That will, of course, require a robust and accountability-based justice system. But human rights abuses will only make it worse," they wrote.
They urged the federal government to use "all power that you have to intervene," warning that a justice system which "ignores the developmental needs of children" and disregards rehabilitation is "a mechanism for generating despair, division and hostility".
Justice Muirhead, who played a significant role in the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, had previously identified the urgent need to address the underlying causes of incarceration.
"The over-representation of Aboriginal people in our prisons and lockups is a consequence of history, of appalling neglect, of ignorance, and of traditional perceptions of 'the Aboriginal problem' and the way it should be coped with," he said in the Commission's interim report.
"It will be unfortunate if the work of this Commission is impeded by narrow, selfish or political considerations," he wrote in an interim report in 1989.
His family said that reality still exists in the NT.
"Despite knowing full well that punitive measures alone will fail, the NT Government is responding to public fears by adopting policies that can only be about optics rather than outcomes," they wrote.
"These policies deepen community division, undermine trust, and ultimately actually reduce public safety."
The family's warning comes after reports of overcrowding and unsafe conditions in detention centres — including 20 women held in one cell in Alice Springs and forced to drink from a toilet, and an 11-year-old child detained in an adult facility in Palmerston.
"The NT Government's current course of action will cause lasting harm — not only to the individuals caught up in the system but to the wellbeing of all Territorians, and to the reputation of our nation as a whole," they said.
Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Malarndirri McCarthy has indicated the Commonwealth may consider using its funding leverage — nearly 80 per cent of the NT budget — to push for changes.
"The balance of incarceration is far outweighing efforts to keep the community safe," she recently told Sky News.
"In Alice Springs, nearly half the prison population is on remand, many of them children who haven't even had a chance to face court. That is a human rights issue we cannot ignore."
Last month, Independent Member for Mulka, Yiŋiya Guyula, introduced a censure motion against the NT government, accusing it of ignoring Aboriginal leadership and voices.
The controversy has even reached the arts sector. Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation (DAAF) executive director Claire Summers told Ms Finocchiaro not to attend the fair in an official capacity, saying she could only be welcomed personally due to the government's approach to youth justice.
Ms Summers said the DAAF works with more than 40 NT Aboriginal art centres, many from communities whose children are in detention.
"It's their babies that are being incarcerated," she told NT News.
"It's their babies that are being trapped, and it's because they're victims of systemic racism. They're victims of being ignored because they live so far away, and are just seen by the decision makers of the day as being an inconvenience — It's not right."
