NAAJA calls for 'emergency intervention' in NT justice system, after second death in custody

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Northern Territory's largest Aboriginal legal service is calling for an "emergency intervention" into the jurisdiction's justice system in the wake of two separate deaths of First Nations people in police custody in a fortnight.  It's one of several prominent First Nations organisations citing a deteriorating relationship between Indigenous Territorians and local authorities with half of those imprisoned yet to have their day in court.

Transcript

00:00After the death of Kuminjai White in the Red Centre sparked national calls for an independent

00:08investigation.

00:13Concerns are growing, the NT can't afford to wait for any probe.

00:17The only way we expect that there will be change is if we have a forum where all the

00:23parties come together and we have an emergency intervention into what's happening in the

00:28territory.

00:29The second Aboriginal man has now died in police custody in a fortnight, a senior man

00:34from Wadair and a community leader.

00:37With another tightening of bail restrictions, half of all prisoners are now on remand, less

00:42than a year since a historic apology to Indigenous Territorians.

00:47A warning the new measures are watering down the presumption of innocence.

00:50They're seeing their family, their sons, their daughters, their husbands, their wives being

00:56locked up and held on remand for long periods of time. So we're getting into a situation

01:02where Aboriginal people in the Territory are fearful of police.

01:06Nadja wants federal representatives to join NT officials and Indigenous leaders in finding

01:12a solution. The latest in a series of organisations urging federal authorities to intervene.

01:18Both the chairs of the NT's two largest Aboriginal land councils have also described a breakdown

01:24in the relationship between Indigenous people and the new NT government. The Central Land Council

01:29is now calling on the Commonwealth to withhold funding to the NT until it sets up a police conduct

01:36commission. The NT government doubling down. Following extensive consultation we will continue

01:42progressing justice reforms that put the rights of victims before offenders. We continue to back

01:48our police and are proud to see officers serving and protecting their own communities. The Federal

01:54Minister for Indigenous Australians didn't respond to a request for comment before deadline.

01:59minister for Indigenous Australians has invited us to support травme,

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