The grandfather of a 24-year-old man who died in custody last month is pleading with the prime minister to “step in” amid what he calls a “justice crisis” in the Northern Territory.
Kumanjayi White, a Warlpiri man with disabilities died after being restrained by police at an Alice Springs supermarket last month. His death sparked multiple rallies and vigils both in the Northern Territory and in cities and towns nationally, including at the weekend.
In an open letter, White’s grandfather, respected elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves, urged Anthony Albanese to “match your fine words with action” and claimed that the NT criminal justice system is failing and in “crisis”.
“This madness must stop. You must step in now,” he wrote.
The letter was released ahead of protests in Sydney and Alice Springs on Saturday.
Hargraves said there was “no trust” between the community of Yuendumu and the NT police.
White was from the same remote community devastated by the fatal 2019 shooting of Kumanjayi Walker by an NT police officer, Zachary Rolfe. Rolfe was later charged with murder but acquitted of all charges in a supreme court trial.
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The inquest into Walker’s death revealed shocking allegations of racism from NT police officers, including racist mock awards given to police officers and offensive racist text messages. The findings are due to be handed down by the coroner next month.
The open letter was released on the 18th anniversary of the NT intervention, a controversial “emergency response” policy implemented by the Howard government, with bipartisan support, using as justification a report documenting child sexual abuse. It saw the government compulsorily acquire township leases over Aboriginal-owned land; abolish the permit system which gave Aboriginal people control over who entered their land; introduce income management to all community residents receiving welfare payments; send the army in to police communities; and post signs declaring bans on alcohol and pornography in township or “prescribed” areas.
Hargraves said the federal government used sweeping powers to “take away all our rights, our jobs and our assets” under the intervention, so it had the power to step in and help communities.
“Our communities were devastated and we have not recovered,” he wrote. “Now we demand action from Canberra to see that our rights are restored.”
The family are renewing their demands for an independent investigation, the release of CCTV footage, and for the officers involved to be stood down while the investigation is ongoing.
The NT police and territory government have repeatedly ruled out another jurisdiction taking over the investigation into White’s death.
Hargraves also expressed his community’s solidarity with the Warlpiri community after the death of an Aboriginal man who died in custody in Darwin a week after his grandson.
The 68-year-old from the remote community of Wadeye died in intensive care at Darwin hospital after he was arrested by Australian federal police over reports he was “intoxicated” and unable to board a flight out of Darwin. NT police said the cause of death was undetermined, pending a postmortem examination.
He was a respected and senior elder who lobbied for bilingual schooling and better education funding for his community.
In a statement, a CLP spokesperson pointed to an internal review process being led by Leanne Liddle, an Arrente woman who was the first Aboriginal police officer in South Australia and since 2024 has been the community resilience and engagement command executive director at NT Police. They said the “internal anti-racism strategy has now been developed and implemented within NT Police” and covered “a broad range of initiatives including ALO [Aboriginal police liaison officer) pathways, cultural reform, and internal strategies”.
Full implementation [of the anti-racism strategy] is awaiting the outcome of the coronial into the death of Kumanjayi Walker - out of respect for that process,” the spokesperson said.
The prime minister’s office and the minister for Indigenous Australians have been contacted for further response.
• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Indigenous Australians can call 13YARN on 13 92 76 for information and crisis support. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
