How can anyone make sense of something so senseless?

There are no words I can offer which will capture the abhorrence and deep sadness being felt across the community as a result of the killing of 15 year old Cassius Turvey in the eastern suburbs of Perth this week.

Though I never knew him, he was from out my way - he went to school 10 minutes away from where I went to school, and his 'pay what you want' lawn mowing business was shared on the feeds of friends of mine.

Young Cassius deserves a place etched in your heart. To see the footage of him at work experience at Noongar FM, full of excitement, is to see all of us full of hope and aspiration for our future to come. A future and a life now denied for that young Aboriginal boy who was considered by his friends as the rock, the Pops, of their group.

There are some, including Western Australia's newly installed Police Commissioner, who are encouraging people not to see this as a race-related attack.

That the racial epithets allegedly yelled out as Cassius and his friends were hunted down by a group of men wielding weapons do not constitute a motivation towards race. Simply, as the Commissioner put it, "in the wrong place at the wrong time".

In addition to the front pages of the story of Cassius' death which ran on the Australian and The West Australian this week, the ABC Four Corner's program also aired a story about the torrent of Indigenous women being murdered or killed. Obviously for even one person to be killed, it is too much.

For Indigenous women though, they are being killed at 12 times the rate of non-Indigenous women.

That's not even to make mention the violence that Indigenous women face which doesn't result in their death.

The reaction to the death of Cassius, and indeed off the back of Four Corners, has seen a wave of protests planned across the country on November 2.

There may be those who ask why. Why a rally, why a vigil? Because as much as this is about rightly about Cassius, this is reflective of a pain and suffering running through the blood of our Black brothers and sisters.

For all the progress, for all the acknowledgement of country, the Apology, and all the fuzzy nice things that give space to Indigenous people in our country, the reality is still a very different story. As it was when the British arrived, it is to this day, a tale of survival. Of violence. Of senseless killings.

The death of Cassius and the Four Corners program, brings to the fore a crisis facing our country.

Our women and our children are being attacked and killed at rates that should cause outrage and result in a substantial response from the police and government.

Undoubtedly if women and children were being killed at the same rate in the Golden Triangle of Perth, or the North Shore of Sydney, there would be a swift and severe response.

But if you're Black in Australia in 2022? You're in the wrong place at the wrong time.

• Zak Kirkup is of Yamatji heritage and is the former leader of the Liberal Party in Western Australia