By KEIRA JENKINS
Culture within the NT police force and tactical response group have been put under the microscope at an inquest into the shooting death of an Indigenous teen.
Kumanjayi Walker was shot three times by then-constable Zachary Rolfe during an attempted arrest at Yuendumu in November 2019.
Mr Rolfe was acquitted of murder during a five-week trial in 2022 and he is no longer serving as a police officer.
The inquest into the 19-year-old’s death heard from Mr Rolfe’s former manager Sergeant Lee Bauwens on Monday morning, who was grilled about the culture within the NT Police Force and its Territory Response Group.
Mr Rolfe had previously tendered to the inquest, certificates for racist awards allegedly handed out at Territory Response Group parties.
Sgt Bauwens was the recipient of a ‘noogadah’ award during his time at the tactical response group.
Counsel assisting the coroner Patrick Coleridge asked Sgt Bauwens about the origins of the award being for an “outstanding lack of hygiene” and the name chosen for the award being a “made-up Indigenous name”.
“What was the connection, in your mind, between a lack of hygiene and Aboriginality?,” Mr Coleridge asked.
“That is the link, that some Indigenous have poor hygiene,” Sgt Bauwens said.
The coroner was shown a number of certificates allegedly handed out at Tactical Response Group awards nights, which included racist language.
“I think we all know that the ‘noogadah’ award is racist,” Sgt Bauwens said.
The sergeant has been on leave from the police force since 2022, telling the coroner he had felt “morally compromised” by aspects of the inquest.
When asked if he’d felt morally compromised when accepting the ‘noogadah’ award, Sgt Bauwens said it was a different situation, describing the awards as “drunken, misplaced humour”.
“In essence, they were just stupid jokes, that’s the way we saw it,” he said.
The inquest into Mr Walker’s death was initially expected to run for three months, but is now closer to two years since it began in September 2022.
Coroner Elisabeth Armitage is expected to conclude taking evidence on Wednesday.
AAP
