Ngurrju mayi?

Parumpurru is one of those powerful hard to translate Warlpiri words.
An English approximation of parumpurru is justice.

Law Courts in Alice Springs, Voted 1# by ‘Love your Authoritarian Regime Magazine”

Here an oft repeated song (originally from Argentina but applicable worldwide)
Que te ha pasado Justicia? (Justice, what has happened to you?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5tQ6Y8xH28

Under the auspices of the NT Department of the Attorney-General and Justice, the three-month long Kumanjayi Walker coronial inquest is being held in the Alice Springs local court. The Yuendumu community’s Parumpurru Committee is represented by pro-bono lawyers. To clarify, other parties are represented by other lawyers, such as the victim’s family, the Health Department, the Police Association and others. In the live streamed inquest just now, I count 15 lawyers in Alice Springs court No.1, but it goes without saying that not all involved are present. Zac Rolfe who fired the three shots is also represented.

On the lawns on the opposite side of the road to the court house, a pergola is set up on hearing days, where a small group of Yuendumu residents and supporters hold a vigil.

Zac Rolfe, undisputed, hero, legend, deserving public figure according to his biography, ” 3mm and much more”.

The proceedings in the coronial inquest are to Warlpiri people best described as foreign or even alien, as were the proceedings during the criminal trial which resulted in Zac Rolfe being found not guilty.

In contrast to the media frenzy leading up to and including the criminal trial, reporting on the inquest is fairly minimal. The ABC NT news’ Melissa Mackay being a notable exception. Melissa as far as I know has been attending all sessions and regularly reports on the proceedings, in a reasonably fair unbiased way.

Proposed New police facility at Yuendumu. Winner of numerous architectural awards.

The aftermath of the killing and consequent murder charges, engendered what appeared to be a well-coordinated campaign of denigrating Kumanjayi Walker and the Yuendumu community. This campaign disregarded court injunctions and had not a skerrick of objectivity nor fairness or decency. In sharp contrast was the dignified response by the Yuendumu community and Kumanjayi Walker’s family and friends, which did not however restrain Zac Rolfe’s defence counsel from stating that Kumanjayi Walker had been “the author of his own misfortune”. An obnoxious example of victim blaming if ever I heard one.

Despite it being so serious and sad, the coronial inquest is providing some moments to be savoured by irony-tragics like myself.

The Health Department tied their knickers in a knot trying to prove that the evacuation of clinic staff had resulted from the perceived (assumed) danger the community presented to the nursing staff and was therefore justified. The possibility that it had been a case of ‘them and us’ “Teach the community a lesson” was vehemently ignored or denied. We all now know that the order to evacuate emanated from the Alice Springs office. What also became clear during the inquest is that remote clinics are very understaffed and health workers seriously overworked and subsequently not always very friendly or helpful. There is a serious disconnect between the health system and the local community, with exceptions the Health Department witnesses drove this home. Our clinic used to be part of our community, sadly this is no longer the case.

Mock- up of new Police Facility being trialled at Yuendumu.

I’m confused by Police hierarchy and titles. During the inquest we have had Senior Constables, Sergeants, Superintendents, Detectives, Commissioners, Commanders and so on as witnesses. Because of my predilection for alliterations, I describe them as a conga line of constables (you pedantics, please disregard this).

Police person after police person exhibited what in Dutch used to be called “East-Indian deafness”. When asked if they’d ever heard racist language being used by their colleagues within or outside the police station, they invariably answered with a straight face that they never had. The word that comes to mind is disingenuous.

Almost all NT police have a Glock pistol hanging off what I term their ‘Swiss Army Knife Belt’. In the inquest they kept referring to their pistol as an accoutrement, which somehow makes it sound less lethal. When asked about the use of and wearing of guns, they invariably had reasons why they felt justified in doing so. The classic was the officer who wears a gun because “you never know what is around the corner” not to mention the officer who thinks that wearing a gun when being involved in a dispute, earns him respect. The thought that people might react to his weapon with fear and loathing rather than respect didn’t appear to have crossed his mind. Myself, I also don’t know what to expect around the corner, but somehow, I don’t have an urge to wear an accoutrement. But then again, I’m not a member of the constabulary.

Please hang in there, there is more:

Watching the inquest, has reinforced my belief that the NT Police is run as a military organisation. I fully realize that in this they are not Robinson Crusoe. One witness even used the word ‘paramilitary’ in a morning session, and subsequently in the afternoon tried to deny (unsuccessfully) having used the term. A classic ‘Freudian Slip’.

‘Nothing para-military about our police’; says Victorian Premier Mr Bjelke Andrew’s.

Victoria Police and NT Police? Can’t tell em apart. (shown at work on school crossing to arrest jay-walkers)

Immediately after the shooting, the troops all retreated to the Yuendumu Police Station, took up defensive positions and called in reinforcements. They assumed (wrongly) that the community would attack them and their precious station. When questioned, they asserted that “making the community safe” was their top priority. Never mind a dying young man and a traumatized community. There is a long history of the use of ruses in military scenarios.  From the Trojan Horse to the use of red-cross marked vehicles in battlefields to now the Yuendumu ruse. A convoy consisting of an ambulance escorted by police vehicles set off to the Yuendumu airstrip, the waiting anxious crowd was deliberately led to believe that a wounded Kumanjayi Walker was being flown to Alice Springs by the Flying Doctor. We now know that Kumanjayi Walker had died hours before and that Zac Rolfe was being bundled off allegedly to the Alice Springs Hospital to have his stab wound administered to. From memory the stab wound was 3mm deep and required no further treatment.
The real reason that Zac was urgently sent on his way, was that within the police station they feared “pay back” which is right up there with “walkabout” as a misunderstood mythical stereotype of remote Aboriginal Australia.

Pay-back is a highly ritualistic nuanced form of Aboriginal justice/reconciliation which I, after nearly half a century living in Yuendumu, cannot begin to fully understand nor know. Payback is not revenge. it is not an immediate reaction but a process, just like a coronial inquest. That at the Yuendumu police station they felt under siege because of fear of payback and felt no compunction in disrespecting the community and the family of Kumanjayi Walker by calling in reinforcements and withholding the truth by the use of a ruse, is a further demonstration of the complete disconnect between white-fellow law and justice and Warlpiri Society.

At present at the front, the police presence has been increased. A family dispute has escalated and I believe that this results in no small part from the heightened tensions and frustrations following the not guilty verdict. The cruising cops and occasional sirens add to this tension and a large number of Warlpiri young men are being systematically arrested and sent to remand. For a long time now in the NT the presumption of innocence has been turned on its head. I am told that the Alice Springs judiciary is prone to go hard on Yuendumu residents as part of an initiative to regain full control.

I’m waiting for the inquest and the media to do something about the perception of Yuendumu and the Warlpiri as dangerous and out of control, instead of the proud dignified people I know they can be.

Heroes proudly display their medals. Adored and worshipped by the public for keeping us ‘SAFE’!

Announcement in memoriam Sabine Kacha:

A Memorial Service for the late Sabine Kacha will be held in the Redfern Community Centre (Sydney) on Saturday, 5 November 2022 at 10am (AEDT).
The event will be live streamed. The link for the live streaming and further information are available here: http://www.respectandlisten.org/vale-sabine-kacha

Sabine was a formidable fighter for justice for Australia’s First Nations. She was much loved by us at the front line.

Ngaka-na-nyarra nyanyi,

Frank (Jungarrayi)

P.S. A non-sequitur song and dance for your enjoyment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxT32ormkhk&list=RDMM&start_radio=1&rv=Yldy-0K5ujo