Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

My condolences to the families of Kumanjayi Walker and the Warlpiri community. I acknowledge the unceded sovereignty and independence of the Warlpiri nation. May Kumanjayi rest in power.

In 2019, a racist cop shot and killed 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker in his grandmother's home. The officer was found not guilty of murder by a jury with no Aboriginal representation. This month, the coroner's report confirmed what we know: racism kills, and police are a racist institution. The report was delayed after NT police killed Kumanjayi Walker's cousin, Kumanjayi White. The coroner found racism is normalised and rewarded in the Northern Territory police and complaints by First Peoples are routinely ignored.

The Albanese government has just spent over $200 million to fund the racist police in the Northern Territory. The royal commission warned that more police only lead to more deaths. Police are an outdated and overused policy response. We need self-determined first responses grounded in care and community.

The Walker family was deeply distressed that the report's recommendations had no accountability for racist cops. The Northern Territory chief minister was angered by the coroner's findings and is now moving to defund the entire Northern Territory coronial system. This is a full-blown attack on truth and accountability for every family who has lost someone, and it should not be allowed. The Prime Minister and Minister McCarthy must use all their powers to pull this extremist Northern Territory government into line before any more people are killed. (Time expired)