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#Auspol #IndigenousDeathsInCustody #SystemicRacism
#MarciaLangton The Saturday Paper 23 August 2025 The NT’s wilful ignorance over Black deaths in custody
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“Evidence about Rolfe’s lies, violence, theft and psychological state had been excluded from the trial case. It emerged later that he had failed to declare disciplinary action and violent behaviour when applying to join the NT police and was banned from applying to Queensland Police for 10 years due to an integrity breach after failing to disclose being fined for public nuisance and violent behaviour. He admitted to lying on a police application form, omitting the fact he had previously used marijuana and MDMA and, according to impugned evidence, had pleaded guilty to theft at a military trial following an internal military investigation.…
“Like all unrepentant men, he made it about himself: “I’ve dealt with the sadness of taking Kumanjayi Walker’s life … I refuse to wallow. If I need to laugh rather than cry, I will laugh.”..
“Finocchiaro’s response to the coronial inquest was a signal to the police to continue their racism and, well, just keep having fun. The justice system in the territory serves the powerful and, as Andrew Boe says, processes the poor. This raises the question: is this a justice system as most people understand it or is it a business model?”…
The NT’s wilful ignorance over Black deaths in custody
When Tim Fischer called High Court judges “pissants” in the ’90s, after they recognised native title and overturned terra nullius, he created the rare spectacle of a government minister excoriating a member of the judiciary in the media. In 2017, three ministers in the Turnbull government – Greg Hunt, Alan Tudge and Michael Sukkar – were threatened with contempt of court charges after they criticised sentencing by the Victorian Supreme Court.