The Warlpiri people are demanding Territory Police are disarmed in communities, that police funding is redirected to community controlled alternatives, and that self determination is respected to enable the Warlpiri to govern their own communities, which will form the focus of a national day of action this weekend.
Amnesty International said the Karrinjarla Muwajarri day of action, which means ‘police ceasefire’, is aimed at the discriminatory powers and laws introduced with the federal intervention, and restoring community control.
The group said when the not guilty murder verdict was handed down for Constable Zach Rolfe in March for the 2019 shooting death of Warlpiri teenager Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu, it broke the hearts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People across the country.
“The 2007 Northern Territory intervention introduced various discriminatory and draconian controls over Aboriginal lands and communities,” the emailed statement said.
“These harmful and often deadly impacts are still felt by the community today. More children are being forcibly removed from their families than ever before. Over representation in prison continues to grow. And Aboriginal deaths in custody remain a horrific reality.
“The Warlpiri are demanding that Territory Police are disarmed of their weapons in communities, that police funding is redirected to community controlled alternatives, and that self determination is respected to enable the Warlpiri to govern and authorise in their own communities.”
The Northern Territory intervention is the colloquial term for the Northern Territory Emergency Response enacted by John Howard’s Coalition government for control of Aboriginal communities in the NT in response to the NT Government’s Little Children are Sacred report. The legislation is due to end on July 17.
Yuendumu resident and Walpiri elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves said they wanted to run their community in a way that suits them and to live in peace.
“We do not want the intervention to control us and tell us what we should do,” he said.
“The threat is the police are always wanting to do something to our community and people. But we cannot allow that. We cannot have police violence towards our people and our children.
“We cannot have that violence with police. We feel that we have been threatened by the police over and over again. We do not want that.
“We cannot do that. We have our rights. We want our rights back, and our lives back so that we can run our community in the way it suits us.
“So, we want the Intervention to end.”
Day of action marches will be held in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide on Saturday June 18.
The Warlpiri list of demands:
No guns in remote communities.
NT Police must be defunded at large.
Only Warlpiri governance and authority in our community.
An end to all discriminatory powers and laws that were introduced with the NT Intervention.
A restoration of laws and structures that respect our local community control.
That funding be redirected from punitive agencies to community controlled services.
Kids on country not in custody.
We need a Black Media Watch to stop the racism in media reporting on our First Nations people.
Defamatory content about Kumanjayi Walker must be immediately withdrawn from publication.
PAW Media and Communications and elders need to approve any media visits to Yuendumu, and any media reporting must be accountable by coming back to our community.
Journalists need to work using a cultural safety framework, local protocols and trauma informed processes. They must listen to and act upon the cultural guidance of our community.
We want culturally safe mental health support for community members with trauma and PTSD. This support must be for the longer term and address our shared and individual PTSD.
An end to racism in NT courts.
A retrial for Zachary Rolfe in Alice Springs.
An independent investigation
We want Rolfe to face our customary lore at Yuendumu.
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