The Northern Territory's Chief Minister has appeared to downplay aspects of the inquest into the police shooting death of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker, suggesting some of the Coroner's recommendations are "much less relevant than others" due to the time which has passed since the 2019 incident.
Coroner Elisabeth Armitage concluded the country's longest-running coronial inquest last week, finding that former NT police officer Zachary Rolfe is a racist and that the NT Police Force displayed "significant hallmarks of institutional racism".
Mr Walker, a Warlpiri-Luritja man, was shot three times during a failed arrest attempt in Yuendumu. Mr Rolfe was later acquitted of murder and manslaughter by a jury in 2022.
While the coroner issued 32 recommendations — none of which included calls for an independent police oversight body, as advocated by the Walker family and legal groups — the NT Government has been under pressure to respond to what has been described as issues of over-policing and racism.
On Monday, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro — who is also the NT Police Minister — offered her first public comments on the matter more than a week after the findings were handed down.
Speaking to the media, Ms Finocchiaro said the inquest "certainly went on far longer than anyone expected or liked" and while it raised "some serious issues that require consideration," she maintained "a lot of work has been done".
"There'll be much to say, and commentators will commentate – my job as Chief Minister is to make sure that as a government we're looking at each recommendation, considering all of them, and providing our response," Ms Finocchiaro said, as reported by NT News.
Ms Finocchiaro also noted the delay between Mr Walker's death and the delivery of the coroner's report.
"It's delivered recommendations that are six years after the fact," she said, adding, "much has changed" since the death of Mr Walker and some of the recommendations are "much less relevant than others".
However, the Chief Minister did not identify which recommendations she considered less relevant, nor did she indicate whether Indigenous Territorians — particularly those most affected by the inquest — shared her view. She was criticised earlier this year for refusing to visit the community of Yuendumu after the death in custody of Kumanjayi White, and for attacking prominent Aboriginal politicians who called for an independent investigation into his death.
Ms Finocchiaro has long defended the NT Police and has refrained from directly acknowledging racism within the force, even in the face of repeated allegations and now, judicial findings. Earlier this year, it was revealed her government had scrapped a police racism review.
When asked about racism in the NT Police, she said: "The coroner wasn't able to rule it in or out, it was really speculation as part of her findings, so that's entirely a matter for her."
Last year she was even clearer, stating: "The CLP has never supported the view that there is systemic racism within the Northern Territory police force."
But Judge Armitage did not hedge her language on this point. While she noted it was not possible to say definitively whether racism caused Mr Walker's death, she was clear in her broader assessment of racism in the NT Police.
"Having considered all the evidence, including Mr Rolfe's explanations and justifications, I found that Mr Rolfe was racist and that he worked in, and was the beneficiary of, an organisation with hallmarks of institutional racism," Judge Armitage wrote.
She emphasised Mr Rolfe's racist messages and behaviour were not isolated or "mere aberrations", but rather "reflective of a work culture that tolerated racism".
"This was not a case of one bad apple," she added.
"Instead, the evidence suggested that racist behaviour or language, although not uniform, was normalised within the Alice Springs police station during Mr Rolfe's time there as a junior police officer."
The findings were acknowledged by NT Police officials last week, with acting Commissioner Martin Dole conceding "all forms of racism have existed within the NT Police Force" and described the inquest's findings as part of a broader cultural problem, calling it a "truth that we must face".
NT Police cultural reform director Leanne Liddle also stated that while the revelations were "not new to many Aboriginal people," the focus now must be on how they respond.
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Many in the Warlpiri community agreed with the findings around racism.
"To hear the Coroner identify structural and entrenched racism in the NT Police has made us feel validated. Our family and community have always felt that racism killed Kumanjayi," Mr Walker's cousin, Samara Fernandez-Brown, said.
Senior Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves — whose yapa, Kumanjayi White, also recently died in custody — said the time for acknowledgement had passed, and what's needed now is action.
"The Coroner talked about racism in the Northern Territory, she has told the truth," Mr Hargraves said.
"We have come so close to justice so many times, only to have people in our family and community killed. The NT Police continue to harm our community, we need a ceasefire."
Last week, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Kerrynne Liddle said she hopes the Northern Territory Government will act on the coroner's recommendations.
"She looked comprehensively at some of the drivers and protective factors that will support people to ensure that this does not happen again," Senator Liddle said.
"That is a really important part of this, and it is for the Northern Territory Government to look very closely at the findings, because they are in charge in the territory of the police and protective services."
