Justice advocates have condemned Northern Territory Chief Minister and Police Minister Lia Finocchiaro for downplaying key findings from the inquest into the police shooting death of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker.
Speaking publicly on Monday — more than a week after Coroner Elisabeth Armitage handed down her findings — Ms Finocchiaro said many of the inquest's 32 recommendations are "six years after the fact", adding the process "certainly went on far longer than anyone expected or liked". Additionally she argued "much has changed" since Mr Walker's death and that some recommendations are "much less relevant than others".
The Chief Minister did not specify which recommendations she considered less relevant or whether any would be implemented.
Advocacy group Justice Not Jails (JNJ) criticised the Chief Minister's remarks.
"Despite damning observations from Coroner Armitage that there is 'clear evidence of entrenched, systemic and structural racism' within NT Police, and that Constable Rolfe's racism increased the likelihood of a fatal outcome on the night Kumanjayi Walker was killed, the Chief Minister chose to comment on the length of the coronial rather than on its substance," JNJ member Anna Sri said.
She added the "week-long silence and delay tactics" from Ms Finocchiaro were "shameful" and called for urgent implementation of all recommendations.
Last week, Mr Walker's cousin, Samara Fernandez-Brown, said the Coroner's findings affirmed what the family had long believed.
"To hear the Coroner identify structural and entrenched racism in the NT Police has made us feel validated," she said.
"Our family and community have always felt that racism killed Kumanjayi."
The 2019 death of Mr Walker — a Warlpiri-Luritja man — occurred during a botched arrest attempt by NT Police officer Zachary Rolfe, who was later acquitted of murder and manslaughter in 2022. In her final report, Judge Armitage found Mr Rolfe was a racist and said the NT Police Force exhibited "significant hallmarks of institutional racism".
Despite this, Ms Finocchiaro has consistently defended the NT Police and has declined to directly acknowledge systemic racism within the police.
This year, her government scrapped a planned police racism review, and she previously stated the NT Government does "not support the view that there is systemic racism within the Northern Territory Police Force".
Asked again about racism in the NT Police this week, Ms Finocchiaro responded: "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."
Whilst she said she couldn't definitively say if Mr Rolfe's racist attitudes contributed to Mr Walker's death, the Coroner said she couldn't it rule it out. She acknowledged this is a "tragedy for Kumanjayi's family and community, who will always believe that racism played an integral part in his death, and is a taint that may stain the NT Police".
However, Judge Armitage made clear in her findings that Mr Rolfe's behaviour was not isolated, and did more than just speculate on racism in the 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 said.
"This was not a case of one bad apple.
"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."
JNJ member Stephen Enciso said the NT Government's inaction on police racism stood in contrast to its rapid legislative response to crime.
"One is tempted to conclude that, for the Chief Minister and the CLP Government, some lives clearly matter more than others," he said.
Senior Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves — whose yapa, Kumanjayi White, also recently died in custody — said the time for mere acknowledgement was over.
"The Coroner talked about racism in the Northern Territory, she has told the truth," he said last week.
"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."
NT Police officials also acknowledged racism in the force. Acting Commissioner Martin Dole last week admitted "all forms of racism have existed within the NT Police Force," calling it a "truth that we must face."
He pledged reforms to address the force's culture, stating: "What was tolerated in the past will no longer be acceptable."
The NT Police's cultural reform director, Leanne Liddle, added that while the findings were "not new to many Aboriginal people," the focus must now be on how the organisation responds.
