An emotional vigil has been held for a 30-year-old Indigenous woman and her baby who died in an alleged domestic violence incident in Central Australia a week ago, with the mother remembered as a person who "fought hard" for her kids.
The bodies of a man, woman and infant child were discovered last Sunday at an outstation, 25 kilometres north of Alice Springs, in an incident labelled an "absolute tragedy".
About 100 people attended the service on the lawns outside the Alice Springs court, where flowers, teddy bears and notes were laid for the mother and daughter, who haven't been publicly identified.
Gender-based violence specialist Rachel Neary, who attended the vigil, described the woman as "a really great mum".
"We know that she fought hard for her kids and there isn't much that she wouldn't do for her kids," she said.
"There was a strong sense that this shouldn't have happened, and this is far too sad."
'The violence must stop'
Cecily Arabie from Tangentyere Women's Family Safety Group told the crowd the deaths were "a loss to the entire community in Central Australia".
"Again we mourn our sister, cousin, aunty, young mother and friend," she said.
"We are so very sad at the loss of the little one.
The Northern Territory experiences the highest rates of domestic and family violence of any jurisdiction in Australia.
According to NT Government data, Indigenous women in Australia experience some of the highest rates of violence of any population in the world.
Domestic family and sexual violence researcher Chay Brown, who was at the vigil, said the mood was one of grief, but sadly, not shock.
"Because this happens too frequently, we are repeatedly living this grief," she said.
"This is the fourth [alleged] domestic violence [fatal incident] in Alice Springs in the last 18 months."
Dr Brown told the crowd that she wants Australia's leaders to "stand up and acknowledge" the issue of family violence in the Northern Territory.
"We don't need them to impose interventions on us, but we do need their support.
"We have the solutions, but they need to be supported."
Lack of information leads to 'conjecture'
Police have called the deaths a domestic violence incident and said a gun was found nearby, however have not confirmed whether or not the gun was used, if officers were investigating the deaths as a murder suicide, or if the gun was registered.
Dr Brown called on NT Police to come forward with more details on the incident, and said the lack of public information had led to "a whole bunch of conjecture" and harmful comments on social media.
"We really need police to come out as soon as they're legally able to, to clarify", she told the crowd.
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles on Sunday said a review of the incident would be undertaken.
“It is very difficult when these matters are being investigated and we do need to respect the family involved,” she said.
“Territorians do need to have the facts and the information so that they can understand this situation so, of course, once there has been any incident there is a review undertaken as a matter of course and any improvements that can be made.”
'Frustration' at lack of national attention
As well as giving the community a chance to grieve together, Dr Brown said the purpose of the vigil was to also draw national attention to the deaths.
"We came together today … to show our grief and our frustration at the lack of action on family violence and the total silence, particularly on the national stage, when it comes to the deaths of First Nations women in the Northern Territory," she said.
"The lack of acknowledgement by the nation, how the nation does not grieve the deaths of First Nations women the way they grieve white women."
Tyson Carmody from the support organisation for Aboriginal men, King's Narrative, said he was "a bit disappointed" at the turnout.
"With a town of 26,000 people, for a vigil to have maybe 100 people attend — to me that either says we don't care or we're desensitised to this type of violence," he said.
"Especially when it's handed out to our black women and children.
