Family seeks funds for Kumanjayi Walker inquest

The family of Kumanjayi Walker have launched a crowdfunding campaign in an attempt to raise $400,000 ahead of the upcoming coronial inquest into the teenager’s death.

Kumanjayi Walker.

The family of Kumanjayi Walker – whom NT police fatally shot in 2019 at Yuendumu – have launched a crowdfunding campaign in an attempt to raise $400,000 ahead of the upcoming coronial inquest into the teenager’s death.

The Justice for Walker group, along with GetUp Australia, launched the GoFundMe on Tuesday afternoon with a four-minute video shared on social media.

In the video, Walker’s cousin Samara Fernandez Brown asks for donations to fund lawyers and the family’s travel to Alice Springs for the coronial inquest, which is set down for three months from September 5.

“It’s extremely important to me and to family and community to be present throughout the coronial inquest so we have an understanding of everything that led up to the events of Kuman­jayi’s death,” she said.

“So that we, as a family and community, feel empowered in this process and have a greater understanding of what we can demand … for the sake of our youth so it will never happen again to anybody else’s family the same way it has to ours.”

Ms Fernandez Brown said it was important that members of the Parumpurru Committee – which consists of Yuendumu elders, emerging community leaders and Walker’s relatives – are present at the inquest “so that all voices are heard”.

“Most of, if not all of, the Parumpurru Committee members would have known Kumanjayi personally,” she said. “They represent the views of the Yuendumu community. They are our representatives and our voice.

“To do that, we need financial assistance.”

The Adelaide woman said attending the lengthy coronial inquest, which will be live-streamed via YouTube, will be costly.

“I don’t think people grasp how expensive it is,” she said. “Most family and community members are located in Yuendumu, which is about three hours out of Alice Springs.

“Flying lawyers in and getting family here … our lawyers and our team are all from interstate.”

The inquest comes after Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe was in March found not guilty of murdering Walker at the remote outback community of Yuendumu.

Constable Rolfe shot Walker three times after the 19-year-old stabbed him with scissors during an arrest in November 2019.

In July, Constable Rolfe, who had been suspended from duty since the shooting, returned to work in Darwin.

The GoFundMe page says Walker’s family and community were devastated by the trial’s outcome. “We feel let down by the system but hope the coronial inquest will give us the answers to long-awaited questions and allow us to speak our truth,” it says.

The page states that funds raised will go directly to Walker’s family.