Rolfe case exposed deep flaws in the Northern Territory justice system

The effects of the events of the night Zachary Rolfe shot dead Kumanjayi Walker, and its aftermath, are still being felt today, writes Matt Cunningham.

It’s six years, one month and four days since police constable Zachary Rolfe shot dead Kumanjayi Walker in the remote community of Yuendumu.

No incident in the past decade has had a greater impact on the Northern Territory.

The effects of the events of that night and its aftermath are still being felt today.

It’s fractured the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Territorians, contributed to the demise of two police commissioners and exposed shocking incidents of racism within the force. (Ironically, by the same man who was publicly declared a racist by the Northern Territory Coroner.)

But the Rolfe case has also exposed serious flaws in the Territory’s institutions, in particular our justice system, which is struggling to grapple with the concept of objectivity in an increasingly polarised world.

Rolfe was charged with murder just four days after the shooting, under circumstances most kindly described as unusual.

Former NT police officer Zachary Rolfe arrives Alice Springs court for day three of him giving evidence at the inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker. Picture: Liam Mendes / The Australian

Top-ranking police had shown body-worn camera footage of the shooting to the DPP on the Monday after the incident, before he recommended a murder charge.

The contemporaneous notes of the detectives investigating Walker’s death show they were baffled by this move, and the haste with which it was being made.

Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Grieve disagreed with the decision, arguing there was a huge amount of evidence and information still to be reviewed.

When he told his colleagues, Detective Sergeant Kieran Wells and Detective Sergeant Leith Phillips, they also raised concerns.

“They were advised of above concerns that this appears to be an abnormal situation and none of the members are completely happy with the request to bring interview (with Rolfe) forward or DPP involvement,” Grieve’s diary notes reveal.

Detective Phillips wrote: “Leadership group in ASP (PHILLIPS / GRIEVE / WELLS) are collectively not happy that the DPP was engaged so early before ALL evidence was available to make a considered opinion based on ALL evidence given this investigation is still ongoing and information is still being gathered which may or may not be critical in the final outcome of the investigation.”

Nonetheless, by Wednesday, Rolfe had been charged with murder.

Compare his case to the death in custody earlier this year of Kumanjayi White.

White died in police custody in Alice Springs on May 27.

For three months investigating officers collected evidence before presenting a brief to the DPP. Last month, the DPP sent the matter back to the police, requesting additional information.

At some point, likely next year, the DPP will decide whether there is enough evidence to proceed with a charge.

If and when that happens, it will have followed months of careful consideration.

Rolfe was charged after four days with almost no investigation, amid a heated political debate at the height of the global Black Lives Matter movement, and as “Justice for Walker” rallies were being held across the country.

It’s hard to escape the conclusion top-ranking police felt under pressure – real or imagined – to lay a charge.

Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage visits Yuendumu during an inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker. Outside house 511. Picture: Jason Walls

When his case finally made it to trial in March 2022, it took a jury just a few hours to find him not guilty.

I sat through almost every minute of that case and can’t remember a day where the prosecution looked like proving a murder charge.

Others thought otherwise and seemed determined to pursue “justice” through other avenues.

The coronial inquest into Walker’s death began in September 2022.

It would take almost three years to complete and conservatively cost about $8 million.

That’s enough to run the Northern Territory’s legal aid service for a year.

Some seasoned legal observers say they’ve never seen anything quite like this inquiry, in terms of both its length and its scope.

At one point it was examining what former police commissioner Michael Murphy might or might not have said after too many beers at a Chinese Restaurant in Alice Springs almost 30 years ago.

This wasn’t the only time it strayed a long way from its core function of determining the place, time and cause of Walker’s death.

The Northern Territory has a shocking history when it comes to the treatment of Aboriginal people, including at the hands of police.

It’s a history that’s never been properly reconciled.

In the Darwin CBD there is still a street named after Paul Foelsche, a police inspector described in Tony Roberts’ book Frontier Justice as “the man who masterminded more massacres in the Territory than anyone”.

Many feel a great deal of guilt about this history, particularly those in the legal profession, who are forced to trade in its misery every day.

NT Coroner Elisabeth Armitage in Yuendumu about to deliver the findings into the Kumanjayi Walker inquest, July 7, 2025. Picture: Gera Kazakov

But a Coroner’s Court is not the place to reconcile these matters, and at times the coronial inquest appeared more interested in proving the white colonisers had learned the errors of their ways than determining the cause of Walker’s death and ensuring a similar fatality could be prevented.

It was more about the show than the substance.

And in the end, that was what brought it unstuck.

Coroner Elisabeth Armitage’s decision to deliver her findings at the PAW Media building in Yuendumu, rather than in a neutral courtroom, proved problematic when the banner of an activist group that had previously called for Rolfe to be speared was placed behind her as she gave her speech.

Incredibly, none of her staff, including her counsel assisting, saw fit to have it taken down.

Rolfe rightly complained to the Judicial Commission, alleging bias.

Last week, in what might prove the final footnote in this saga, the commission dismissed the complaint, but only because it found the Coroner was not aware of the banner’s presence.

Nevertheless, the optics were clear.

And like the rushed police investigation, it all seemed more about politics than an objective search for the truth.

Originally published as Rolfe case exposed deep flaws in the Northern Territory justice system