A Queensland Police Service First Nations advisory group member and longtime Indigenous activist has resigned from her position following the police shooting death of 27-year-old Mareeba man Aubrey Donahue.
Professor Gracelyn Smallwood tendered her resignation from the advisory group on Wednesday citing concerns about police actions during the four-hour long siege that lead to Mr Donahue's death on Saturday.
"Half an hour after the shooting happened I got a call from a family member describing how four bullets were put in the young man's abdomen," Professor Smallwood told AAP.
"I sent (Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll) a text at midnight on Saturday and said, 'What's going on? People are saying he was unarmed. Why was he shot four times in the abdomen? Why didn't they shoot him in the kneecaps to bring him down?'. Because what the community was saying to me on the phone is that it was a welfare check and that he was trying to self-harm."
Commenting on the details surrounding Mr Donahue's death, Professor Smallwood suggested the lethal response from Queensland Police Service's Special Emergency Response Teams (SERT) officers was unnecessary.
"You've got three or four police officers with ammunition in heavy guns pointing at the victim," she said.
"Maybe he's got a knife - but he hasn't got a knife like Crocodile Dundee and he doesn't have a machine gun.
"They didn't have their cameras on and they felt intimidated, so they just put four bullet holes in this boy's abdomen and killed him."
The 2014 NAIDOC Person of the Year has been an activist for Indigenous rights for decades, including the campaign following the death of Mulrunji Doomadgee, who died from internal injuries whilst in custody on Palm Island.
Professor Smallwood said at first she believed Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll and the cultural changes she was attempting to make, however she felt compelled to "make a statement" following the death of Mr Donahue.
"The shooting in Mareeba was the last straw. I can't sit here as a hardcore activist and not do something," she said.
"And the only thing I thought of doing was resigning and making a statement. It wasn't about me. It was about a lot of injustice that's happening to our people all around Australia."
Professor Smallwood called for reform in the justice system including changes to police procedures and for governments to work directly with Indigenous communities to reduce the number of First Nations children living in out of home care arrangements.
A coronial inquest into the deadly shooting will be conducted by Coroner Terry Ryan.
