The Northern Territory police association has rejected calls for the banning of guns in remote Aboriginal communities after the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker.
Walker’s family and Warlpiri elders from the community of Yuendumu, where the shooting occurred, called for the ban on Friday after police officer Zachary Rolfe was found not guilty of the 19-year-old’s murder.
But the president of the NT police association, Paul McCue, said on Monday that the union did not support a ban.
“This was a sad and unfortunate incident,” he said.
“It was avoidable, but members of the police force have the right to protect themselves, and to protect others.
“They put their lives on the line to do that, and we do not support the removal of firearms.”
McCue, who started his press conference on Monday by reading a 14-page statement before taking questions, said police had been in remote communities for decades and did an unbelievably good job.
“I’ve worked in them before, many of the officers here work really closely with members of remote communities, and become really good friends with a lot of those communities.
“We deal with a lot of really difficult situations, we know there’s a lot of alcohol-related harm issues in those communities, and police do an amazing job to resolve the majority of those matters without needing force, and occasionally they need to use force.”
Outside court on Friday, Ned Jampinjinpa Hargreaves, a Warlpiri elder, said: “Karrinjarla muwajarri. No guns! No guns in the rural remote community! Enough is enough! It’s gotta stop.
“To our people – let us stand strong. Let us respect each other. And we do not want to see another black young fella, or a girl, to be shot.”
It is unclear whether Rolfe will return to the force, with McCue saying he had yet to speak to the officer, or senior police, about his future.
Rolfe has returned with his parents to Canberra after the court decision.
McCue used most of his press conference and statement to demand a fulsome inquiry into why Rolfe was charged within four days of the shooting on 9 November 2019.
He said constables, sergeants and senior sergeants had told the union they had left the force because of their concern about how the matter was investigated, but was unable to say exactly how many officers he believed had quit because of how Rolfe was treated.
The inquest, expected to be held later this year, should illuminate issues with the investigation, including for Walker’s family, McCue said.
“We hope this process uncovers more answers for our members, and uncovers all the truths.
“Together with Constable Rolfe, his family, the police force itself, along with Kumanjayi Walker’s family, and the community of Yuendumu, they were let down by a decision which was unnecessarily hasty, a decision we know was made within hours of the shooting, to move toward an arrest of a member of the police force who himself was a victim of a stabbing and could have lost his life that night.”
