Northern Territory Police Commissioner, Michael Murphy, made an important speech this week at Garma. He apologised for past actions of police towards First Nations people in the Territory and spoke about the Stolen Generations, Indigenous incarceration rates and the 2007 Howard government Intervention.
But it was the Commissioner's references to ill-treatment of Aboriginal Australians on the frontier that were of particular interest to Defending Country. Here are some quotes:
I apologise in advance, for any discomfort my words may cause, but truth-telling is critical for the Northern Territory Police to ‘own’ its part in the challenging history many Aboriginal people have experienced over many decades. By doing so, we take steps towards understanding and reconciliation, and honour the journey toward healing and justice ...
As the legislated protectors of Aboriginal people, and Territory Community, Northern Territory Police historically were required to defend Aboriginal people from harm. However, there were times when we did not fulfil this responsibility. Instead, police saw themselves as duty bound to protect settlers and their property when Aboriginal people resisted their incursions ...
The intergenerational impacts of colonisation, including poverty, ongoing disadvantage and racism, are reflected in the over-representation of Aboriginal people in custody. This reality underscores the urgent need for us to intensify our efforts to close the gap and address these deep-rooted causes; of dispossession and disempowerment.
Many Territorians, like many Australians, may not fully understand the history of colonisation in the Northern Territory. Similarly, some members of the police force may lack awareness of the profound and ongoing intergenerational impacts that this history has had on Aboriginal Territorians ...
The conflict and reprisals that followed the Coniston massacre in 1928 resulted in the dispersal of people from their traditional lands and constitute an ongoing source of intra-generational trauma for Warlpiri people.
The Commissioner spoke in detail about Coniston and the Woodah Island (Blue Mud Bay or Caledon Bay) incident in 1933. He committed the NT Police to the elimination of racism in its future dealings with First Nations people.
The Commissioner's speech contrasts with the attitudes of some other individuals and institutions: just because we personally didn't do harm to First Nations people then does not mean we lack responsibility for doing something about the effects of that harm now. That responsibility starts, as the Commissioner said, with 'owning' our challenging history.
As Defending Country said, following the Victoria Police apology for the Stolen Generations: 'Properly recognising and commemorating First Australians' deaths in the Australian Frontier Wars shows we care about those deaths'.
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