Kumanjayi Walker inquest postponed as Zach Rolfe accuses coroner of ‘apprehended bias’

The coronial inquest into Kumanjayi Walker’s death has been indefinitely postponed following Zachary Rolfe’s application to have the NT Coroner recuse herself.

Kumanjayi Walker’s inquest has been indefinitely postponed.

The coronial inquest into Kumanjayi Walker’s death has been indefinitely postponed following Zachary Rolfe’s application to have the Northern Territory Coroner recuse herself on the grounds of alleged “apprehended bias”.

Coroner Elisabeth Armitage has directed that next week’s scheduled sitting in the inquest be vacated to allow her time to consider the many submissions made in response to Mr Rolfe’s recusal application.

Earlier this month Mr Rolfe filed a 54-page application inviting the Coroner to consider recusing herself over “a cumulation of conduct that, when viewed in combination, gives rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias”.

The former Alice Springs police officer fatally shot Walker during an arrest at Yuendumu in November 2019. He has since been acquitted of the 19-year-old’s murder.

Mr Rolfe’s recusal application expressed concerns about events which took place during the Coroner’s visit to Yuendumu last November including Judge Armitage permitting Walker’s mother to paint her face and Counsel Assisting Peggy Dwyer SC’s “positive encouragement of discussion concerning the community’s desire for justice”.

Mr Rolfe’s lawyer Luke Officer said there was a “marked distinction between the conduct of a culturally appropriate inquest and the Coroner’s engagement in, or condonement of, conduct during an inquest that has the capacity to unnecessarily blur the divide between a Coroner and interested parties or groups”.

Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage. Picture: Glenn Campbell

“The conduct of Counsel Assisting and the Coroner at Yuendumu, with respect, is not tempered by the fair-minded observer‘s understanding of the appropriate requirements for cultural sensitivity,” he wrote on behalf of his client.

“Although it has been repeatedly said that the discussions in Yuendumu would not be considered in this inquest, the statements of Counsel Assisting at Yuendumu, in the presence of the Coroner, directly contradicted those assertions.”

Mr Officer wrote that his client had also repeatedly asked about the circumstances leading up to the amendment of non-publication orders in March that allowed materials in the coronial brief to be provided to NT Police’s Professional Standards Command for investigation.

In response to his enquiries, the coroner’s legal team claimed communications between the Coroner and Counsel Assisting were the subject of legal professional privilege.

“Mr Rolfe’s (recusal) application is premised upon a cumulative sequence of events concerning the conduct of this inquest, the most recent event being the Coroner’s disclosure of a lawyer-client relationship with Counsel Assisting,” Mr Officer wrote.

“Neither NTPF, nor any party, could suggest that this was a relationship disclosed, either expressly or implicitly, at any point prior to late August 2023.”

Former NT Police officer Zachary Rolfe. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Mr Rolfe said the Coroner should now disclose any material that substantially weighs upon the question of apprehended bias. He submitted that his recusal application must be resolved first, before his application for documents.

Mr Rolfe and his former Immediate Response Team boss Lee Bauwens will now avoid giving evidence until these fresh legal issues are resolved.

“Coroner Armitage will need to take time to carefully consider the matters raised in the many submissions received before ruling on the application, in circumstances where she has other court obligations this week,” a court spokesman said.

“As a result, Coroner Armitage has directed that next week’s scheduled sitting in this inquest be vacated.

“The further delay to these proceedings is extremely regrettable, but necessary to address the application made.”

It is unknown when the wide-ranging, long-running and costly inquest, which began in September 2022, will resume.