Warren Mundine accuses Victorian Yoorrook Commission of ‘grievance and victim approach’

Warren Mundine says the focus should be on lowering crime rates, rather than incarceration rates.

Indigenous leader Warren Mundine. Picture: Sky News

Indigenous leader Nyunggai Warren Mundine has condemned a recommendation of Victoria’s Indigenous “truth telling” commission that would require the state’s police commissioner to have an understanding of the “role of Victoria Police in the dispossession, murder and assimilation of First Peoples”, accusing the Yoorrook Justice Commission of having a “grievance and victim approach”.

The prominent opponent of an Indigenous voice to parliament was also critical of the commission’s focus on incarceration rates, saying it should target crime reduction instead

Yoorrook’s report into Victoria’s child protection and criminal justice systems, published on Monday, argues present-day failures are “deeply rooted in the colonial foundations of the state of Victoria”, which were “predicated on beliefs of racial ­superiority”.

It calls for “decision-making power, authority, control and resources” in both child protection and criminal justice to be transferred to Indigenous Victorians; detention for children under 16 to be abolished; Victoria Police to “take into account an Aboriginal person’s unique background and systemic factors when making decisions on cautioning or diversion”; and courts to also ­account for “the unique systemic and background factors affecting First Peoples” when sentencing Indigenous offenders.

The 46 recommendations also include requirements for health services, the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing and Victoria Police to undertake “appro­priate training to address bias”, which must be “designed and delivered by a Victorian First Peoples business or consultants.”

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett. Picture NCA NewsWire / Aaron Francis

Another recommendation requires that the police commissioner be able to demonstrate an “understanding of the history of colonisation and in particular the role of Victoria Police in the dispossession, murder and assimilation of First Peoples, and the ongoing, intergenerational trauma and distrust of police this has caused”.

Asked what he made of the recommendations, Mr Mundine – who has Bunjalung, Gumbaynggirr, Yuin and Irish heritage – said: “I don’t distrust police, and I know many other Aboriginals who don’t have any contact with the legal system.”

Of almost a million Indigenous Australians, almost 14,000 were incarcerated in the March quarter of 2023, the most recent period for which statistics are available.

Mr Mundine said that while Indigenous Australians were over-represented in prisons, “most of us are not incarcerated; we don’t have problems with the police; we get on with our lives”.

He said Yoorrook was taking a “grievance and victim approach, rather than looking at how do we have positive outcomes”.

“Poking your finger at police and saying ‘you’ve got systemic racism and you’re colonising bastards’ is not going to fix anything. I think the police do an excellent job. They’ve got a tough job.”

“What we look at in this area is the wrong target. People look at incarceration rates. We should be looking at lowering crime. The majority of those in prison are there for serious violent crimes.”

Indigenous academic Anthony Dillon said the recommendation relating to the police commissioner was “way over the top”.

“In a lot of cases allegations of racism are being used to distract from harm Indigenous people are inflicting on each other,” he said.

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett said anyone who rose to the rank of police commissioner would “by definition” have an understanding of Indigenous history and experience with Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.