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The reality of policing in Alice Springs · The Front

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.
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  Speaker 1: It's Wednesday, May six, twenty twenty six. Pressure zamping up
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  Speaker 1: on next week's federal budget as the Reserve Bank jacks
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  Speaker 1: up the cash rate and economists poor scorn on Jim
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  Speaker 1: Chalmer's big idea of handing out more cash in tax
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  Speaker 1: offsets and fuel rebates, and blow up about the Treasurer's
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  Speaker 1: plan to strip away tax breaks for investors. That's as
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  Speaker 1: new data shows Australians are still spending too much and
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  Speaker 1: inflation's only going up. It's a big day for fiscal
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  Speaker 1: and monetary policy. But fortunately our experts have done all
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  Speaker 1: the maths for you, and the executive summary is live
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  Speaker 1: right now at the Australian dot com dot AU. A
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  Speaker 1: week on from a shocking riot in Alice Springs, what
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  Speaker 1: are relations really like between police and Aboriginal people today?
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  Speaker 1: A Lean Mendez joins us from the Red Center, where
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  Speaker 1: he's covering the sorry business for a five year old child,
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  Speaker 1: the justice process for the man accused of murdering her,
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  Speaker 1: and what relations are really like between cops and community
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  Speaker 1: in some of our most troubled towns. Liam's here in
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  Speaker 1: just a moment, lim And there's this the Australian's correspondent
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  Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory, and he's been covering the disappearance
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  Speaker 1: and alleged murder of Kumanjai little Baby, the five year
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  Speaker 1: old girl who disappeared from a town camp around Anzac Day, Liamb.
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  Speaker 1: On Tuesday, we had a first appearance scheduled in court
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  Speaker 1: for Jefferson Lewis, the forty seven year old man who's
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  Speaker 1: accused of her murder and of two other charges. We're
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  Speaker 1: seeing other people go through the courts as well, Limb,
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  Speaker 1: including some people who are accused of being involved in
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  Speaker 1: that riot, a woman who's accused of setting fight or
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  Speaker 1: police car, for example. And there were some amazing images
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  Speaker 1: that ammer in your video and photographs and those captured
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  Speaker 1: by other journalists. You know, we saw people throwing rocks
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  Speaker 1: and other projectiles at police or screaming at police. But
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  Speaker 1: then we also saw a woman hugging a police officer
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  Speaker 1: who was holding a riot shield. What's the sense that
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  Speaker 1: you get of what the relationship is actually like between
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  Speaker 1: police and the community in what must be one of
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  Speaker 1: the most challenging beats in Australia.
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  Speaker 2: Well, there's been no secret about the real troubled history
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  Speaker 2: between Northern Territory police and the Indigenous community. As we know,
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  Speaker 2: there's the tragic story of Kuminjai Walker, who was shot
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  Speaker 2: by a police officer in Yuendumu in twenty nineteen.
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  Speaker 1: Kuminjai Walker was nineteen and a hardcore violent offender living
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  Speaker 1: in the troubled remote community of Yundermu when he was
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  Speaker 1: shot dead by tactical officer Zachary Rolf in twenty nineteen.
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  Speaker 1: Rolf was acquitative murder, but during a coronial inquest, he
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  Speaker 1: revealed deeply held racist practices still blighted the Northern Territory Police.
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  Speaker 1: The coroner harshly criticized Rolf's actions and said he was
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  Speaker 1: a beneficiary of that racist culture.
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  Speaker 2: But it was quite at some point, you could say
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  Speaker 2: beautiful watching at the very start, especially of this riot,
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  Speaker 2: watching police really trying to speak and empathize. You could
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  Speaker 2: see the police are really hurting in this. You know,
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  Speaker 2: the police are the ones that have been on the
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  Speaker 2: ground twenty four to seven during this tragic case. And
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  Speaker 2: then for them to be standing outside the hospital protecting
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  Speaker 2: the man that so many people in the community really
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  Speaker 2: wanted to get their hands on and you could see
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  Speaker 2: the herd in their eyes, you could hear it in
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  Speaker 2: their voice and really empathizing with members of the community, saying,
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  Speaker 2: you know, we really understand what you're going through. We're
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  Speaker 2: hurting as well. This is really tough for everybody. That
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  Speaker 2: was something quite beautiful to see. And there was my
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  Speaker 2: colleague gire kazakhovt the NT News captured this absolutely beautiful,
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  Speaker 2: touching photograph of a police officer hugging a woman during
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  Speaker 2: the riode as well, and he was holding his riot shield.
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  Speaker 2: But you know, this was kind of at the very
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  Speaker 2: start of the riot, when rocks hadn't been thrown yet,
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  Speaker 2: when you know, the police hadn't had to lead off
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  Speaker 2: to your gas or smoke grenades or pepper spray. There
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  Speaker 2: was a lot of yelling, a lot of anger, a
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  Speaker 2: lot of crying at this point, but the police and
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  Speaker 2: the members of the community they were two meters away
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  Speaker 2: from each other. So it was then after that where
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  Speaker 2: things really escalated.
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  Speaker 1: It's a fucking out of screen, not place, but not
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  Speaker 1: paph out of the fucking God. Yeah, it's really sad
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  Speaker 1: to see, isn't it, especially because so many of these cops,
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  Speaker 1: despite the fact that Northern Territory Police has had some
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  Speaker 1: serious issues to deal with in the past couple of
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  Speaker 1: years about what critics say is entrench and systemic racism.
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  Speaker 1: You often see individual cops on duty in the Northern
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  Speaker 1: Territory who are clearly determined to have good relationships with
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  Speaker 1: the community who they're serving.
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  Speaker 2: That's absolutely correct, and you know, it's been really interesting
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  Speaker 2: to watch from the side of the Aboriginal liaison police
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  Speaker 2: officers as well, and then also Indigenous police officers who
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  Speaker 2: have been working with their communities and with the other
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  Speaker 2: police officers in town that you know, everyone has been
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  Speaker 2: working together for most of the part. You know, everyone
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  Speaker 2: really hoped and felt like there would be a positive
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  Speaker 2: outcome to this tragic, tragic story, as we know, something
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  Speaker 2: that hasn't happened. But I mean, I think what this
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  Speaker 2: has shown is that, you know, police genuinely care about
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  Speaker 2: the Indigenous community in the Northern Territory. There's I don't
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  Speaker 2: think you could fault police for the effort the resources
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  Speaker 2: that they're allocated to hear that there is a real
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  Speaker 2: following that all the ugly revelations that came now as
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  Speaker 2: a result of the coronial into the death of Kumunjai Walker,
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  Speaker 2: where we saw some horrific examples of racism within the
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  Speaker 2: Northern Territory Police. I think there has been some good
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  Speaker 2: will that has been built from the tragic circumstances of
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  Speaker 2: this case. What happened in court, well, everyone thought that
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  Speaker 2: we'd be able to see Jefferson Lewis for the first
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  Speaker 2: time since he was arrested by police following allegations that
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  Speaker 2: he had abducted and murdered the poor little five year
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  Speaker 2: old girl, Kumenjai Little Baby, Ash is now known as
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  Speaker 2: per Aboriginal custom. Now about twenty five members of Kumunjai
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  Speaker 2: Little Baby's family, including her brother and grandmother, appeared at
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  Speaker 2: alis Quin's court on Tuesday morning, and they were hoping
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  Speaker 2: to see him in person, but he's in Dawa and
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  Speaker 2: he didn't even appear via video link. We did not
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  Speaker 2: see him at all.
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  Speaker 1: When Jefferson Lewis was first arrested LIAMB, he was kind
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  Speaker 1: of rescued from an extremely angry mob of people who
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  Speaker 1: had found him and were allegedly assaulting him and also
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  Speaker 1: assaulting a Saint John ambulance crew who had come to
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  Speaker 1: his aid. Now he's in the custody of the Territory's
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  Speaker 1: Corrections Department. But what happens now for him.
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  Speaker 2: We actually learned of a few more details of what
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  Speaker 2: happened after he was arrested, after he'd been allegedly beaten
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  Speaker 2: by that group at Charles Creek Town Camp in Alice Springs.
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  Speaker 2: He was taken to the Alice Springs Hospital under heavy
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  Speaker 2: police guard. You know, people said that they'd never seen
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  Speaker 2: an ambulance under such heavy police escort and taking someone
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  Speaker 2: to the hospital, and that hospital was placed under lockdown.
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  Speaker 2: He was treated in the emergency department. He then underwent
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  Speaker 2: a CT scan and then after those results returned and
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  Speaker 2: that he was all okay, he was placed back into
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  Speaker 2: police custody, taken out the back. But the Territory Response Group,
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  Speaker 2: there's a tactical police who respond to the most serious
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  Speaker 2: incidents in the territory. They took him out the back
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  Speaker 2: of the hospital whilst the riot was underway and then
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  Speaker 2: took him to the watchhouse where he said for I
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  Speaker 2: think about an hour before he boarded an anti government
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  Speaker 2: private plan and was flown to Darwin. At three point
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  Speaker 2: thirty am. He landed in Darwin and now he's currently
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  Speaker 2: in police custody in Darwin Now. In court on Tuesday morning,
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  Speaker 2: Judge Anthony Hopkins acknowledged the trauma that the community was
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  Speaker 2: going through. He spoke about how the family were going
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  Speaker 2: through sorry business at the moment, and it was quite
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  Speaker 2: a short hearing which was adjourned to July thirty, where
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  Speaker 2: a brief is to be served upon his defense.
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  Speaker 1: Now, of course, at this stage receedings, he wouldn't necessarily
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  Speaker 1: need to enter a plea, but we can assume that
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  Speaker 1: he will be defending these charges. Of course he has
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  Speaker 1: the right to be presumed innocent. But what's the mood
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  Speaker 1: like in Alice Springs Now? Liam, he is now out
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  Speaker 1: of town. He was taken out of town for his
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  Speaker 1: own safety. Is there still that palpable level of anger
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  Speaker 1: that you were seeing on the day that he was
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  Speaker 1: first arrested.
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  Speaker 2: Well, a lot of people are grieving. It's a very
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  Speaker 2: upset town. Members of Kamenjai Little Babies family have been
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  Speaker 2: doing what's called sorry business. Now, this is where family
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  Speaker 2: comes together and they grieve together. Outside court there was loud,
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  Speaker 2: audible railing. People were crying, shedding tears and hugging each other.
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  Speaker 2: So it's a very emotional time. But also can I
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  Speaker 2: say Alice Springs is very quiet at the moment. A
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  Speaker 2: lot of people have actually gone out of town to
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  Speaker 2: a community called Hermansburg where the foot he has been playing.
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  Speaker 2: So I went there on Sunday and it was actually
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  Speaker 2: really lovely to see a lot of members of the
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  Speaker 2: community coming together and enjoying, fooding together and what is
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  Speaker 2: an incredibly distressed and traumatic time for everybody, but they
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  Speaker 2: were still able to come together and watch this community
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  Speaker 2: football together.
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  Speaker 1: We'll be back after this break. Alice Springs is a
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  Speaker 1: beautiful community. There's just under thirty thousand people in Alice Springs,
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  Speaker 1: and outside the town there are the sixteen town camps,
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  Speaker 1: which have about a thousand residents spread across you know,
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  Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty odd households, very predominantly original people
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  Speaker 1: from a huge range of communities from the Central Northern
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  Speaker 1: Territory and the town camps. I had such an interesting history, Lamb,
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  Speaker 1: and every time something like this happens, we have had
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  Speaker 1: fresh about about what the town camps are, what the
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  Speaker 1: living conditions are there, and why it's so dangerous. What
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  Speaker 1: are residents telling you right now in the town camps
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  Speaker 1: about what they want and what they feel about their
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  Speaker 1: living conditions.
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  Speaker 2: We spoke to Robin Granitz, who is Kamaji Little Baby's grandfather,
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  Speaker 2: and he made it abundantly clear that he wanted the
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  Speaker 2: conditions of these town camps to be shown. He wanted
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  Speaker 2: the whole of the country to see these conditions because
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  Speaker 2: these are horrific living conditions that people should not be
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  Speaker 2: living in.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, yes, in here and that's where people have been
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  Speaker 3: drinking around there no one around.
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  Speaker 2: How do you feel when you kind of look at
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  Speaker 2: this way.
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  Speaker 4: It's hurting.
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  Speaker 2: It's a hurt feeling.
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  Speaker 1: It's really hurting me looking at the sight of it.
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  Speaker 2: It's been taken away from These are houses that have
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  Speaker 2: been built but are not functionable for people to live in.
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  Speaker 2: There's holes in walls, there's rooms that don't have doors,
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  Speaker 2: there's not even mattresses. People are sleeping on the floor.
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  Speaker 2: It's the real shocking conditions that you know, ordinary Australians
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  Speaker 2: I think are being shocked. And we've shown people when
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  Speaker 2: we've published the videos that we've captured with the consent
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  Speaker 2: of Kamenjaia Little Babies family, they wanted everyone to see
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  Speaker 2: the conditions and people have rightfully been shopped and we've
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  Speaker 2: published these stories.
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  Speaker 1: The cancer rose in the sixties largely because Aboriginal people
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  Speaker 1: either weren't welcome or didn't feel welcome in established white
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  Speaker 1: communities like Alice Springs. Now they're run by an Aboriginal organization,
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  Speaker 1: the Tongue Taror Council, but there are houses provided by
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Territory government and that's where most of the
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  Speaker 1: funding comes from. I've been interestedly in recent days that
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  Speaker 1: politicians from Anthony Alberanzi to the Northern Territory Chief Minister Leafinocchiaro,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not really talking about the conditions in the town camps.
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  Speaker 1: Anthony ALBANIZI said, oh, well, we know what the problem
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  Speaker 1: is and we know how to fix it, and that's happening.
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  Speaker 4: I think we know what the solutions are and that's
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  Speaker 4: why we're contributing. We have about four billion dollars for
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  Speaker 4: housing in remote areas that improving the absolutely. It's by
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  Speaker 4: far the largest ever investment in housing in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 1: Just law, I mean, is it?
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  Speaker 2: I don't think it's happening. And you know there's some
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  Speaker 2: politicians who have been very vocal on social media and
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  Speaker 2: in parliament in the MT about the conditions of these
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  Speaker 2: town camps and about the real deterioration of the conditions.
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  Speaker 2: Some of these politicians were also in parliament in the
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  Speaker 2: previous labor governments and you know, now they're having a
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  Speaker 2: real hot crack at the Colp government.
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  Speaker 5: We've got a housing crisis where we're hearing from people
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  Speaker 5: that the wait list has gone from four to six
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  Speaker 5: years to eight to ten years, and we've got empty
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  Speaker 5: houses now sitting in the suburbs of Alice Springs today
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  Speaker 5: that could be turned over.
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  Speaker 2: But interestingly, trying to see what they did whilst they
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  Speaker 2: were in parliament, but now they have kind of gone quiet.
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  Speaker 2: They don't want to speak about this. So it's real
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  Speaker 2: fascinating to see how people you know, who were so
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  Speaker 2: vocal and suddenly going silent, And honestly, the question really
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  Speaker 2: needs to be asked, is now the time to talk
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  Speaker 2: about the conditions in these camps. Personally myself, I think
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  Speaker 2: there's no better time, and you know, talking to members
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  Speaker 2: of her family, many of them think that now is
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  Speaker 2: the best time to talk about it too.
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  Speaker 3: We need to have a conversation about town camps and
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  Speaker 3: what kind of you know, life they provide for people
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  Speaker 3: who live in them, but particularly so for children. They
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  Speaker 3: absolute hell holes.
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  Speaker 1: It's important to remember, I think that there's now four
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  Speaker 1: generations or five generations of families who have lived in
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  Speaker 1: these town camps. They're not actually camps. They're housing settlements
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  Speaker 1: with houses built out of breeze blocks or bricks and
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  Speaker 1: mortar or concrete slabs, you know, tin roofs. But they're
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  Speaker 1: not really set up for the conditions that you have
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  Speaker 1: in the Northern Territory. Freezing cold at night, boiling hot
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  Speaker 1: during the day, often very little breeze. They're unsanitary, the
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  Speaker 1: doors don't lock, there's no safe place for children, for example,
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  Speaker 1: to sleep. So it's finding this balance, isn't it, between
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  Speaker 1: respecting the dignity of the families who live there and
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  Speaker 1: trying to make sure that the houses are properly funded
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  Speaker 1: and that when repairs are made, that the houses don't
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  Speaker 1: get trashed by the large communities of people who pass
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  Speaker 1: through the town camps. Your reporting is suggesting that Jefferson
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  Speaker 1: Lewis is one of these people who was passing through
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  Speaker 1: the town camps on his way to somewhere else.
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  Speaker 2: That's right, Claire, and I think a real interesting thing
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  Speaker 2: to look into is that the number of people who
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  Speaker 2: come from our side of Alice Springs who you know
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  Speaker 2: normally live in community. They're from a remote community. But
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  Speaker 2: there's nothing to do in these communities. We visited these communities,
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  Speaker 2: We've spoken to so many people in these communities. There's
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  Speaker 2: no economy in the community. There's nothing to do apart
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  Speaker 2: from you know, turning around and gossiping or maybe having
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  Speaker 2: a drink. But if it's a dry community, that makes
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  Speaker 2: it harder. But there is also alcohol in these dry communities.
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  Speaker 2: We know that the old Timer's town camp is meant
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  Speaker 2: to be a dry community, but people were drinking on
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  Speaker 2: the night that Kmjai little baby went missing. So I
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  Speaker 2: think one of the major problems is finding ways to
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  Speaker 2: keep people from coming to the town camps of Alice Springs,
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  Speaker 2: where you should see these sound camps being severely damaged.
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  Speaker 1: Where was Jefferson Lewis actually from Lamb.
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  Speaker 2: So Jefferson Lewis was from a communic call La Jamount
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  Speaker 2: who it's near Catherine, which is on the top end
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  Speaker 2: of the Northern Territory. But it also spent a fair
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  Speaker 2: bit of time in Yuendumu, which is about three hours
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  Speaker 2: north of Alice Springs. But you know locals are very transient.
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  Speaker 2: They can sometimes walk between communities or drive between communities.
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  Speaker 2: They'll get a lift, they'll be buses. So it's been
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: quite interesting to look into the different areas that he's
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: been living in over the last couple of years, most
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: recently and though he's been spending his time in Alice Springs.
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  Speaker 1: Liam Mendez, thank you very much.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: Liam Mendez is the Australians reporter in Alice Springs. You
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: can check out all limbs reporting anytime at the Australian
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: dot com dot au