Mulrunji Doomadgee: Palm Island mayor says time to heal on anniversary of death in custody

Palm Island Mayor Alf Lacey says 20th anniversary commemorations of the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee will focus on healing.

Cameron (Mulrunji) Doomadgee’s sister Valmae Aplin lays a wreath at his resting place on Palm Island on the fifth anniversary of his death in custody.

Palm Island Mayor Alf Lacey says 20th anniversary commemorations of the death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee and the resulting civic disturbances and 14 years of legal and political wrangling will focus on healing.

“It’s the 20th anniversary tomorrow (Tuesday) on Palm Island, which is being led by the Doomadgee family for a community healing ceremony,” he said on Monday.

“We’ve been working closely with the family in terms of continuing to try to find some peace and find some settlement in their hearts.”

Mr Lacey said it had been a “long saga, a very sad history”.

“I certainly don’t want to open old wounds and go into what happened and what shouldn’t have happened,” he said.

“My job now is to encourage community leaders on Palm to move on from tomorrow with some community healing and let’s find a way forward for the new generation in our community.”

Palm Island Mayor Alf Lacey says the ceremony is to provide closure for the Doomadgee family but also to allow the community to move forward. Picture: Evan Morgan

Mulrunji, 36, died of what the coroner ruled was “an intra-abdominal haemorrhage caused by a ruptured liver and portal vein” after he was arrested by Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley for alleged public drunkenness on November 19, 2004.

He also had four broken ribs.

Snr Sgt Hurley, who medically retired from QPS in 2017, was found not guilty of manslaughter at a trial in Townsville in 2007.

It wasn’t until 2018 that the Queensland Government formally apologised to Palm Island residents for racial discrimination during the 2004 disturbances as part of $30m legal settlement.

Mr Lacey said the healing message had been embraced by the Doomadgee family who would hold a private ceremony at the cemetery before a public event and smoking ceremony at The Fred Clay Freedom Park about 10pm.

A Queensland Police Service spokeswoman confirmed they had been invited and would be attending the ceremony.

Mr Lacey reiterated that the ceremony was to provide closure for the family but also to allow the community to move forward.

“We need to do a lot of things differently in terms of economic opportunities and home ownership and liveability and give the new generation a bit of help.”

Originally published as Mulrunji Doomadgee: Palm Island mayor says time to heal on anniversary of death in custody