Northern Territory police have told Australia’s largest indigenous gathering that the force has “made mistakes” and vowed to hold its force accountable for the harm inflicted over the past 150 years.
“I cannot change or undo the past,” Commissioner Michael Murphy told those gathered at the Garma Festival in Gulkula, north-east Arnhem Land, on Saturday.
“But we can commit to not repeating mistakes and injustices.”
Mr Murphy said he would work to transform relations between police and Aboriginal Australians and would use his position to “do everything possible to eliminate racism in the Northern Territory Police”.
“I recognize that this challenge will be difficult… but the alternative is unacceptable,” he said.
Mr Murphy used his speech to formally apologise for a history of injustice involving the Northern Territory police.
“I deeply regret the harm and injustice caused in the past by members of the Northern Territory Police,” he said.
Mr Murphy also addressed the “profound and ongoing intergenerational impact” of colonisation.
Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy has apologised for “mistakes” made by his force towards Indigenous people.
“The intergenerational impacts of colonisation, including poverty, persistent disadvantage and racism, are reflected in the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in prison,” she said.
The “cruel and inhumane” practice of separating children from their families for decades has left a lasting social impact of trauma and harm, she said.
‘These impacts play a critical role in driving disconnection, antisocial behaviour, crime and violence today.’
In pledging to address the root causes of dispossession and disempowerment, Mr Murphy promised his force would work to prevent further harm.
“The Northern Territory Police must be held accountable for its past treatment of Aboriginal people,” he said.
‘Police officers have at times abused their powers or failed in their duty of care to Aboriginal offenders, witnesses and victims of crime.
“I intend to develop a new relationship based on mutual respect, trust and human rights.”
Commissioner Murphy apologised while attending the Garma Festival in Gulkula, north-east Arnhem Land, on Saturday.
The Garma Festival is Australia’s largest annual Indigenous gathering and is held on the Grove Peninsula in the Northern Territory.
The Northern Territory Police Force has been under scrutiny in recent months after evidence of racism was uncovered at a coroner’s inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker.
Mr. Walker was fatally shot by then-Officer Zachary Rolfe in November 2019 during an attempted arrest.
His death offered an opportunity for the force to reflect on its history, Murphy said.
He revealed that Northern Territory police were conducting an active investigation into a cold case surrounding the disappearance of Tuckiar Wirrpanda, an Aboriginal man from Woodah Island suspected of being killed by police officers in the 1930s.
Mr Murphy acknowledged that the way forward could only be achieved in partnership with the Territory’s Aboriginal people and community organisations.
The force’s new direction would also involve the development of an “anti-racism strategy” led by Leanne Liddle, the most senior Indigenous employee in the Northern Territory Police.
“The time is right,” said the Central Arrernte woman and former director of the NT Aboriginal Justice Agreement.
“We need to acknowledge that there has been harm, suffering and pain on the part of Aboriginal peoples, and the apology will help heal that situation.”
The Garma Festival, a four-day indigenous gathering at a ceremonial site in north-east Arnhem Land, began on Friday.
