Garma Festival: Top cop apologises to Indigenous Australians for ‘racism in the Northern Territory Police’

Northern Territory police have told Australia’s largest gathering of Indigenous people that police have “made mistakes” and vowed to hold them accountable for harm done over the past 150 years.

“I cannot change or undo the past,” Commissioner Michael Murphy told attendees at the Garma Festival in Gulkula, in northeastern Arnhem Land, on Saturday.

“But we can promise that we will not repeat the mistakes and injustices.”

Mr Murphy said he would work to improve relations between police and Indigenous Australians and would use his position to “do everything I can to eradicate racism from 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 the history of injustices involving the Northern Territory Police.

“I would like to thank all Aboriginal Territory residents for the harm and injustice that has been caused in the past by members of the Northern Territory Police,” he said.

Mr Murphy also discussed the “profound and continuing intergenerational impact” of colonisation.

“The intergenerational impacts of colonisation, including poverty, persistent disadvantage and racism, are reflected in the over-representation of Aboriginal people in prison,” he said.

The “cruel and inhuman” practice of removing children over decades has had a lasting impact on society in the form of trauma and harm, he said.

‘These consequences play a crucial role in the causes of disinterest, antisocial behavior, crime and violence.’

Murphy pledged to address the deep-rooted causes of dispossession and powerlessness and promised that his troops would work to prevent further damage.

“The Northern Territory Police must be held accountable for the way Aboriginal people have been treated in the past,” he said.

‘At times, police officers have abused their powers or failed in their duty of care to Aboriginal offenders, witnesses and victims of crime.

‘I want to build a new relationship, based on mutual respect, trust and human rights.’

Commissioner Murphy apologised during his visit to the Garma Festival in Gulkula, in north-eastern Arnhem Land, on Saturday

The Garma Festival is the largest annual gathering of Australia’s indigenous people and is held on the Grove Peninsula of the Northern Territory

The Northern Police Force has come under scrutiny in recent months after evidence of racism was found during an inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker.

Mr. Walker was fatally shot by then-Officer Zachary Rolfe during an attempted arrest in November 2019.

His death gave police an opportunity to reflect on their history, Murphy said.

He revealed that Northern Territory police were conducting an ongoing cold case investigation into the disappearance of Tuckiar Wirrpanda, an Aboriginal man from Woodah Island who was suspected of being murdered by police officers in the 1930s.

Mr Murphy recognised that the way forward could only be achieved in partnership with Aboriginal Territory members and community organisations.

The new direction for the police would also include the development of an “anti-racism strategy”, led by Leanne Liddle, the most senior Indigenous employee at the Northern Territory police.

“The time is right,” said the Central Arrernte woman and former director of the Northern Territory Aboriginal Justice Agreement.

“We need to acknowledge that Aboriginal people have suffered harm, grief and pain, and an apology can help heal some of that.”

Friday saw the start of the Garma Festival, a four-day gathering of indigenous peoples at a ceremonial site in northeastern Arnhem Land.