Marion Scrymgour calls for NT Police to hand over Kumanjayi White investigation to AFP

‘Trust is a fragile thing’: Removing NT Police from investigating its own role in the death of Kumanjayi White would both reassure the community and benefit officers, the Lingiari MP says.

Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour has called for Australian Federal Police to take over the Kumanjayi White death in custody investigation as “a first step towards healing and justice”.

Northern Territory Police have resisted calls for an independent inquiry into the death of the 24-year-old Warlpiri man from Yuendumu, who died after being restrained by NT Police officers in Alice Springs on May 27.

Ms Scrymgour said AFP control of the investigation would both reassure the community and protect Territory officers from criticism, noting the ongoing fallout from the Kumanjayi Walker death in custody – another young Warlpiri man killed at Yuendumu.

“A criminal investigation is a job which only police can undertake, because at the end of the day it has to be a police decision to charge,” Ms Scrymgour said.

“But it doesn’t have to be NT Police officers who undertake the task.”

Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour has called for the AFP to take over the Kumanjayi White death in custody investigation. Picture: Liam Mendes / The Australian

In the wake of Kumanjayi Walker’s death in 2019, NT Police investigated and took one of its own, Constable Zachary Rolfe, to trial for murder before he was acquitted on all charges.

“Most would say that the process which led to the charging of a serving officer with the most serious of criminal offences demonstrated the agency’s integrity and independence, but many of those involved in the investigation experienced ostracism, and the trial and coronial journey has resulted in resentment among others from within the NT Police,” Ms Scrymgour said.

“Meanwhile, not just the family of the young man but Aboriginal people throughout the Territory have been shaken by the coronial inquiry’s showcasing of casual and entrenched racism at the core of the NT Police, within its elite TRG unit.”

Ms Scrymgour said fair-minded Territorians “know that such values and conduct are not shared by all NT Police”, but that “trust is a fragile thing”.

“The coronial inquiry evidence is too recent and too jarring for it not to have consequences and implications for what is now playing out in Alice Springs in the aftermath of yet another tragic death,” she said.

She said having the AFP take over the Kumanjayi White investigation would “both extract NT detectives from a role which would inevitably subject them to scrutiny and criticism, and would enable the Yuendumu community to have full confidence in the process going forward”.

Warren Williams, Central Land Council chair and uncle of Kumanjayi White, wants all federal funding to the Territory to be frozen until an independent inquiry is established.

A spokesperson for the NT Chief Minister said the government “would not be following Labor’s path”.

“The community and police suffered when Labor ministers previously intervened, and we cannot be clearer; we are not following Labor’s path,” the spokesperson said.

“We are following due process involving NT Police and the NT Coroner, which is underway.”

Last week acting Police Commissioner Martin Dole affirmed his “complete confidence” in the integrity of the NT Police investigation, and said there were “robust and well established” checks and balances in place.

The Central Land Council meanwhile has called on the federal government to withhold federal funding from the Northern Territory government until an independent inquiry was established.

It wanted an independent police conduct commission to be established and an independent inquiry led by the NT Coroner to be concluded within 12 months.

CLC Chair Warren Williams – who is also Kumanjayi White’s uncle – said the lack of an independent oversight over the police magnified the “desolation and sorrow” gripping his community.

“My community needs confidence in the police and that trust has been eroded,” he said.

“Let me be clear – only money will force the NT government to act.”

Originally published as Marion Scrymgour calls for NT Police to hand over Kumanjayi White investigation to AFP