NT police spend ‘a threat to our lives’, says Yuendumu elder

Yuendumu elders have blasted the NT Labor government’s budget announcement of the ‘biggest ever spend’ on policing.

Yuendumu Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves outside the NT Supreme Court in Darwin. Picture: (A)manda Parkinson

Warlpiri elders from Yuendumu have lashed out at the Northern Territory Labor government’s budget announcement of the “biggest ever spend” on policing.

An inflammatory statement issued on behalf of Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves and the Sydney-based Human Rights Centre claimed the extra money would “threaten the lives and safety” of Warlpiri people and the Yuendumu community.

Warlpiri leaders are campaigning to disarm remote police and direct funding towards improving Aboriginal governance in the wake of the murder acquittal of police constable Zachary Rolfe over the death of Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu in 2019.

“The NT government has no shame increasing the police budget after the fatal police shooting of our loved one,” Mr Hargraves said.

“More funding for police means more police violence against our people. Karrinjarla muwajarri! This must stop! We demand a police ceasefire! No more police guns. The only safe way forward for our people is for our local First Nations authority to be empowered and for funding to go to our community-controlled services.”

Human Rights Law Centre legal director Nick Espie supported the “call for action”.

“The voices of elders, families and community at Yuendumu must be central to the next steps taken by (the) government in the journey towards healing and ­restoring the trust of Aboriginal people, and repairing the damage to our justice system,” he said.

Police Minister Nicole Manison unveiled a record $510m police budget, saying Labor had upped the total spend from $400m at the time it won power in 2016.

“I’m really proud to say that in this budget, you’re going to see a strong focus on remote policing,” she said.

“Under this government, you have seen remote police stations moving from two-person stations to three-person stations … it means we’re tackling the issues of fatigue out bush, but also ensuring that there is less need for people from urban stations to have to go out to the bush stations and it means more stability for those communities.”

She threw her support behind embattled Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker, who has faced ­internal votes of no confidence connected to the unsuccessful Rolfe prosecution. She would not comment on an officer being ­suspended for writing an opinion piece ­critical of the way Constable Rolfe was charged, saying the suspension was an internal matter.

The NT Police Association welcomed the NT government’s budget announcement but declined to respond to the Warlpiri’s statement.

“Members in remote communities have been forced, at times, to work up to 70 hours of overtime in a fortnight simply because there is no one available to help. This funding will hopefully allow members to have some respite,” president Paul McCue said.

“We hope to see a significant investment in improving the mental health and wellbeing services provided to members after Police Minister Nicole Manison agreed to undertake a review of services after years of lobbying from the NTPA.”

The Warlpiri statement was accompanied by a four-page ­ series of demands, including a ­retrial of Constable Rolfe. There is no double jeopardy in the NT.