Senior health workers and clinic nurses are expected to explain why medical staff withdrew from the remote community of Yuendumu hours before Kumanjayi Walker was fatally shot by a police officer, when the inquest into his death resumes today.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains an image of a person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage has been presiding over a three-month inquest into the death of the Warlpiri-Luritja man since early September and after a week-long break, witnesses are expected to return today.
Mr Walker was shot three times by Constable Zachary Rolfe during an attempted arrest in Yuendumu, 300 kilometres from Alice Springs, in November 2019.
Constable Rolfe was found not guilty of any offence in relation to the death after a Supreme Court trial earlier this year.
Judge Armitage has so far heard from 11 witnesses as she examines the circumstances of the shooting.
In her opening address, Counsel Assisting the Coroner, Peggy Dwyer, told the court one nurse had the windows of her personal car smashed and nurses' houses were broken into in the early hours of November 9, 2019.
"I expect Your Honour will hear evidence that the nurses felt very unsafe," Dr Dwyer said at the beginning of the inquest.
The coroner has heard there had been a series of property crimes related to health staff before the nurses left the community.
While local police said they suspected Mr Walker could have been associated with the crimes, the court has heard they had no evidence to suggest he was involved.
"The safety concerns of the nurses were reported to management at NT Health and consequently, a conference call was made around 9:30am between the remote area nurses stationed at Yuendumu and the on-call executive manager, Helen Gill, from Alice Springs," Dr Dwyer said in her opening statement.
"The possibility of the nurses withdrawing from the community was considered. I expect that the court will hear that some of the nurses at the time were hesitant to leave the community and voiced their preference to stay."
The coroner has heard health staff left the community on the afternoon of November 9, 2019 – hours before Kumanjayi Walker was ultimately shot – and nurses from the nearby Yuelamu community were on-call to travel to Yuendumu if they were needed.
Then-sergeant of the Yuendumu police station, Julie Frost, told the coroner police were expected to escort the visiting nurses, but that they didn't have the resources to do so.
"I expect that Your Honour will hear evidence that there was tension between the nurses and community members, who voiced their grievances about the clinic staff leaving," Dr Dwyer also said in her opening address.
Nurses injured after shooting
During the first month of the inquest, the coroner has heard from several witnesses that a nurse was injured, and rocks were thrown at an ambulance as staff arrived in Yuendumu following the shooting of Kumanjayi Walker.
Pictures of a nurse suffering bruises and a head injury after she was hit by a rock while driving have been shown to the court.
The coroner is expected to hear evidence from that nurse this week.
The court has heard Kumanjayi Walker died in the cells of the Yuendumu Police Station around an hour after he was shot, before the Royal Flying Doctor's Service was dispatched to the community.
There were no NT Health nurses in the community at the time of the shooting and in her opening address Dr Dwyer told the court remote nurses from the nearby Yuelamu community arrived about half an hour after Kumanjayi Walker passed away.
"As Constable Rolfe identified at the time, the wounds were internal, to major organs, and there was little that could be done to save him without an operating theatre and surgical skills," Dr Dwyer said.
In her opening address Dr Dwyer, flagged evidence from health department staff would be significant to the inquiry and the coroner's ultimate recommendations, telling the court the Yuendumu community, NT Police and NT Health "are united in wanting to avoid another death in these circumstances".
The inquest is scheduled to continue until December.
