Kumanjayi Walker inquest: Nurse says two health staff were responsible for caring for 1400 people on night of shooting

A nurse says she was “concerned” at the decision to evacuate the local health centre in Yuendumu prior to the death of Kumanjayi Walker.

Just two nursing staff, 45 minutes away, were responsible for all health emergencies in Yuendumu the night Kumanjayi Walker was killed and after the local health centre was evacuated, a court has heard.

A Coronial inquest into the 19-year-old’s police shooting death in 2019 resumed in the Alice Springs Local Court on Monday where clinic manager Luana Symonds gave evidence via video link from New Zealand.

Ms Symonds said while she was not in Yuendumu on the day and not involved in the decision that the other nurses should leave, “the general consensus was that they were feeling unsafe”, following a series of burglaries at their homes.

She said the plan left the two health staff in Yuelamu responsible for up to 1400 people in both communities but that it was “not uncommon for another community to provide emergency cover”.

Ms Symonds agreed with counsel assisting, Peggy Dwyer, that there were multiple vulnerable people in both communities, including children, elderly people and those with chronic health conditions.

Counsel assisting the Coroner Peggy Dwyer. Picture: Jason Walls

“It’s entirely plausible, isn’t it, that there could be an emergency in both Yuendumu and Yuelamu at the same time, in which case somebody would miss out, potentially, on lifesaving treatment with the nursing staff being withdrawn?” Dr Dwyer asked.

“Correct,” Ms Symonds said.

The registered nurse said it did “concern” her that there would be no health staff left in Yuendumu but that she was not “in a position to make comment about the decision made”.

“I feel that Northern Territory health centre management staff took into account all the variabilities and all the possibilities and decisions were made at that time considering all parties,” she said.

But Ms Symonds said there should “absolutely” be better consultation with the community if such issues arose in future.

“Lessons learnt is communication, meaningful dialogue is extremely important,” she said.

“In Yuendumu we always talked about two ways of being, always two ways in Yuendumu, Warlpiri and (non-Indigenous).”

Ms Symonds said three Aboriginal health staff were “not included” in a meeting to discuss the evacuation because their houses had not been broken into.

But she agreed with barrister for several family groups in Yuendumu, Gerard Mullins, that excluding First Nations staff from such a meeting in a similar community in New Zealand would have been “unthinkable”.

“This meeting was not just about whose house was getting broken into, this meeting was about whether the appropriate thing to do was to withdraw staff from the community and effectively close the clinic?” Mr Mullins asked.

“Of all the people who could have made a contribution to how this was going to impact upon the community, was it not those three Indigenous members that had critical community information?”

“Yes, I agree,” Ms Symonds responded.

She said the three Aboriginal staff members were also not called upon to respond to the shooting, despite still being in Yuendumu, as they did not work out of hours but agreed that in hindsight “it’s clear that that should have been done”.

“It’s fair to say, isn’t it, that if you think of yourself as a family member, you would rather somebody with some clinical skills who is Aboriginal than nobody there, particularly in terms of comforting somebody? “ Dr Dwyer asked.

“And for that purpose alone, in terms of giving comfort to the person who has been shot, it was appropriate to consider any clinic staff who were available in the community?”

“Absolutely,” Ms Symonds said.

The inquest continues on Tuesday.

Originally published as Kumanjayi Walker inquest: Nurse says two health staff were responsible for caring for 1400 people on night of shooting