The Northern Land Council has joined growing criticism of the sentence handed to a man who avoided jail over the hit-and-run death of an Aboriginal man.
Last week, 24-year-old Jake Danby was sentenced in the Northern Territory Supreme Court to a 12-month community corrections order, including five months of home detention, after pleading guilty to hit-and-run driving causing death.
In June last year, Mr Danby struck two Aboriginal men near a Darwin shopping centre. One victim, a 39-year-old man referred to as Mr Whitehurst for cultural reasons, was thrown seven metres, suffered a traumatic brain injury, and later died in Royal Darwin Hospital. The second man, aged 37, survived with non-life-threatening injuries. At the time, Mr Danby was unlicensed, driving an uninsured vehicle, and fled the scene.
The court heard that after the crash, Mr Danby sent a series of "disgusting" and racist texts, calling the victims "n*****s" and "dogs" and describing the crash as a "two-for-one combo".
Justice Sonia Brownhill said the texts "demonstrated a shockingly callous disregard for the welfare of the victims", but noted Mr Danby had shown remorse. She cited his age, lack of criminal history, and work record as reasons for taking a rehabilitative approach. The NT Director of Public Prosecutions has appealed the sentence, calling it "manifestly inadequate".
The outcome has sparked widespread anger, particularly amongst the Indigenous community in the NT, where the government's 'tough on crime' stance has disproportionately affected Aboriginal people and driven up incarceration rates — almost half of whom are held on remand.
Discontent has grown further amid previously undisclosed revelations that Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby is the sister of Mr Danby's stepmother, and the lack of condemnation by the CLP government over the sentence, despite having previously criticised the judiciary in other cases.
Speaking at the NLC's Victoria River Regional Council meeting in Katherine on Wednesday, NLC Chair Matthew Ryan acknowledged the "terrible loss for Mr Whitehurst's family and community" before accusing the government of double standards.
"The NT government's approach to crime is not consistent," Mr Ryan said. "It has one rule for Aboriginal people, and another rule for non-Aboriginal people. This government has double standards."
He added there were other "similar cases to this, and it is quite sad that the perpetrators are not being prosecuted".
"It feels like these people are getting away with murder. Our people are getting hit by drivers, and we have a duty-of-care as drivers to look out for all pedestrians, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal," Mr Ryan said.
The NLC said they backed the DPP's decision to appeal the sentence.
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Last week, Darwin-based Indigenous Road Safety Academy (IRSA) founder Martina Hazelbane said the case highlights systemic failures.
"Incidents like this are a stark reminder of the systemic challenges our communities continue to face: ongoing racism, inequity, and a justice system that too often fails to hold offenders fully accountable," she said.
"Aboriginal people are disproportionately affected by road trauma in the Northern Territory and across Australia, and tragedies like this reinforce the urgent need for change."
Mr Whitehurst's sister also expressed her devastation.
"Why is [Jake Danby] out? If an Aboriginal man hit a white man, he would be locked up," she said in a statement issued through the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA).
"Mr Whitehurst was my one and only brother; now I have no brothers. We loved him so much. This is not fair."
Mr Danby's text messages have fuelled further outrage. The court heard he wrote, "They were rolling all over the road like bitches when I looked in my … mirror," and that the world needs "c**s like me to take a hit to teach these c**s a lifelong lesson".
"Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll be able to claim his Centrelink for taking out another oxygen thief."
Responding to those comments, Mr Whitehurst's sister said: "It's really hurting me. Seeing those messages, it makes me so upset."
