Protests against police guns in remote communities on 15th anniversary of Intervention

Elders from Yuendumu have renewed their plea for police guns to be removed from remote communities as protesters mark 15 years since the beginning of the Intervention.

WARLPIRI Elders from the Central Australian township of Yuendumu have called for police in remote communities to be stripped of their guns.

The plea was made as part of a national day of action across the nation, marking 15 years since the Intervention.

Yuendumu was the community where Indigenous man Kumanjayi Walker was fatally shot in 2019 by Constable Zachary Rolfe. Constable Rolfe was later acquitted in a Supreme Court trial.

Warlpiri elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves said that police officers carrying guns “causes fear in our remote communities”.

“We cannot accept that anymore,” Mr Hargraves said.

“We don’t want to feel terrified in our own ngurra, our own home.

“The police must put down their weapons.”

Yuendumu Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves gives a statement on the steps of NT Supreme Court. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

Mr Hargraves had previously called for guns to be banned in remote communities, on the steps of the Darwin Supreme Court during the Rolfe trial.

Protests are planned in Alice Springs, Borroloola, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, and Perth.

It follows a blockade of facilities owned by NOIA, the firearms manufacturer for guns carried by NT Police on Friday.

In a statement on Saturday morning, local elders said First Nations peoples, supporters, students, unions, and at least 25 community groups and human rights organisations voiced support for the push to not arm police with guns in remote communities.

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