Global Climate Change Action

by Monique Bond
http://moniquesnotes.blogspot.com/2010/03/background-on-mulrunji-inquest...
Mulrunji Inquest 2006
Some background on the Death in Custody on Palm Island, 19 November 2004 and the inquest which was carried out in 2005 and 2006. Reading them may help with understanding the issues raised in the new Inquest starting 8th March 2010. The Notes are as I sent them out in May 2006.
These notes have been read by Erykah Kyle, Mayor of Palm Island, and she is happy for me to circulate them.

by Andrew Bartlett
http://andrewbartlett.com/?cat=52 (all the articles below can be found via this link).

Mar 8, 2010
Palm Island Inquest Resumes (again)
It is well over five years since Mulrunji Doomagee died in police custody on Palm Island, his ribs broken and his liver nearly sliced in two. Previous coronial inquests and trials have wound a tortuous path, with various assertions about the cause of death ranging from the consequences of a “complicated fall” to suggestions Mulrunji’s injuries were inflicted by a more direct methods.

Nov 19, 2008
Palm Island death – 4 years on
November 19 marks four years since the notorious wrongful arrest and death in police custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee on Palm Island. Many Aboriginal men have been arrested, charged, exiled from their homes and jailed in the four years since. Meanwhile, investigations into allegations regarding actions and investigations by police have yet to be completed and no disciplinary action of any sort against police has occurred.

Nov 7, 2008
http://andrewbartlett.com/?p=7151
It might be legal but it isn’t just

Palm Island man Lex Wotton has been handed a seven year jail sentence (less one year for time previously served) as a result of being found guilty by a jury of rioting with destruction. Although I’ve spoken with people who were present on the day which led t the charges, I wasn’t there, so I won’t give a view on who did what.

Oct 24, 2008
Various versions of justice in Queensland

On Wednesday I attended a rally outside the Brisbane District Court, held to show support for Palm Island man, Lex Wotton, whose trial had been going for two weeks. The jury started deliberating on the Thursday. When I saw news that they were still going on the Friday afternoon, I decided to go to the court to bear witness with Lex and his family and supporters as they ...

Jul 12, 2007
Back on Palm Island

I've been in Townsville and Cairns this week, helping to publicise the local services featured in the Success Stories in Indigenous Health put out by ANTaR, which I wrote about in this post, as well as held some meetings with a range of people about housing and Indigenous issues. I also visited Palm Island for the first time since the rally for justice was held there...

Jan 5, 2007
Has the Palm Island “review” just become a “second opinion”?
Queensland’s Acting Premier, Anna Bligh has announced Sir Laurence Street, the former NSW Chief Justice, has been appointed to review the actions of the Director of Public Prosecutions relating to the death of Mulrunji in police custody on Palm Island. I notice that the statement announcing the appointment does not use the term “review” at all, instead using the term “second opinion” on four occasions.

Jan 1, 2007
More on Palm Island and Indigenous justice
It is good that mainstream media interest and public pressure about the ongoing fight for justice for the Aboriginal community on Palm Island, and more widely for Indigenous people in Queensland has continued in the so-called ‘silly season’, with a number of substantial articles in recent days. Before I list a few of them, I’ll quote a few paragraphs from this report in the Torres News about the rally ...

Dec 28, 2006
Palm Island inquiry mess gets worse
Unfortunately, Christmas has done nothing to improve the shambles surrounding the way our justice system has dealt with the death in custody in Palm Island. This situation is about justice being seen to be done and people feeling they are getting a fair go, but the application of one short-term fix piled on top of another has now created such a mess that I doubt it will appear ...

Dec 21, 2006
There must be justice before there can be reconciliation

Yesterday’s rally on Palm Island was attended by a few hundred locals, a good number of supporters from the mainland, many police (including the state Commissioner of Police, Bob Atkinson) and at least 20 people from the mainstream media. The Premier of course was also there, along with Attorney-General, Kerry Shine. I arrived on the island earlier on the day, talking with locals about their feelings and listening to ...

Dec 20, 2006
Palm Island – some fragments of history
I'm visiting Palm Island today on the invitation of some community members. There will be a lot of media focus with the Premier and some other people of note also visiting. My aim is to help ensure a commitment for change and positive support continues past the immediacy of the moment. The reaction to the Queensland Director of Public Prosecution's decision not to lay charges in regard to the ...

Dec 19, 2006
Palm Island: demanding a way forward
The lack of legal or government action over the death of Mulrunji in police custody on Palm Island is a watershed moment. It has brought home very starkly the inequality faced by Indigenous people in Queensland and the fact that the political and legal systems do not deliver justice for them – indeed it often delivers the opposite. The starkness of this tragedy and injustice also provides a big ...

Dec 14, 2006
No charges over Palm Island death

The news that the Queensland Director of Public Prosecutions has decided not to lay charges against the police sergeant involved in the death of an Aboriginal man on Palm Island two years ago will seriously damage any faith Indigenous people have in the justice system. It is not for me to dispute the reasoning behind the DPP’s decision, but you don’t need to be Einstein to know that the ...

Nov 16, 2006
Media coverage of Palm Island and launch of the Errol Wyles Justice Foundation
Last night I attended a fundraising dinner in Sydney to launch the Errol Wyles Justice Foundation. The Foundation is aiming to provide legal and counselling assistance to some Indigenous Australians where there is evidence of failures in the Australian justice system. Channel Nine’s Sunday program did a story on the killing of Errol Wyles in a hit and run accident earlier this year. You can read the transcript here, ...

Oct 8, 2006
Palm Island & Justice
The police officer found by a Coroner to be responsible for the death of a man on Palm Island has finally been suspended from duty on full pay. It is hard to understand why this decision wasn’t made straight away. There will be a rally to protest this issue in Brisbane this coming Tuesday at the re-opening of Parliament following the state election.

Aug 19, 2006
Yarrabah, Kowrowa and Mona Mona
A month or so ago (following on from going to Palm Island), I visited the Aboriginal township at Yarrabah, as well as two small communities near Kuranda called Mona Mona and Kowrowa.

Aug 12, 2006
Palm Island
Three weeks ago I spent most of the week travelling around far northern Queensland. It started with a flight to Townsville to talk with a group of people about the Senate Inquiry I initiated into the Stolen Wages issue. I also took the chance to go over to Palm Island again to give some of the locals there an update on the Senate Inquiry and also hear from them.

Aug 1, 2006
Put our First Peoples First
Tonight in Brisbane I am launching a campaign aimed at making Indigenous issues a much greater priority in political and public debate. A key part of the campaign is to try to ensure the voices of Indigenous Australians are heard much more frequently and prominently in those debates, so the public forum accompanying the campaign launch will feature three local Aboriginal speakers.

Verdict in trial of Lex Wotton, Palm Island leader, by Andrew Bartlett
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/thestump/2008/10/24/verdict-in-trial-of-lex-w...

THE BIG READ: Unfinished business
National Indigenous Times
ISSUE 166, November 13, 2008: If you think the Palm Island tragedy is over, think again writes Chris Graham
http://www.nit.com.au/News/story.aspx?id=16613

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/new-inquest-into-death-in-cus...
New inquest into death in custody starts
March 8, 2010 - 6:39AM
via Brisbane Times

A third inquest into the 2004 death custody of an Aboriginal man will be launched in north Queensland today.

Cameron Doomadgee, 36, died on the floor of a Palm Island watchhouse cell shortly after his arrest for public nuisance in November 2004.

A 2006 inquest found Mr Doomadgee's arresting officer, Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, caused the fatal injury by repeatedly punching him after they both tripped over a stair coming into the watchhouse.

However, the Queensland Police Union successfully challenged the finding after Sen Sgt Hurley was acquitted of a charge of manslaughter relating to the matter in 2007.

The inquest, before Deputy Chief Magistrate Brian Hine, will begin on Palm Island today before moving to Townsville on Wednesday.

Senior Sergeant Hurley is expected to give evidence on Friday.

Hey. I just wanted to make the note that Sergeant Chris Hurley was recently charged with manslaughter...

Ahni

DAY OF MOURNING FOR ALL
ABORIGINAL DEATHS IN CUSTODY

This is a call to all who have lost loved ones as Aboriginal Deaths in Custody throughout the country (and to their supporters) to come together in unity with family, friends and the Redfern Community at a “Day of Mourning” on Wednesday, 14th Feb., 2007, to mark the 3rd Anniversary of the death of 17 year old Kamilaroi boy, T.J.Hickey, arising from the Hollingsworth chase in Redfern, N.S.W.

The rally will begin at the fence at the rear of Turonga Tower Units in Phillip St. Redfern at 10am (Koori time) for 10.30am start. where there will be an open mike to allow family & community to have their say with a commemorative silence before marching to the old police station in Turner St. and the new police station in Redfern St.

We will then head back to The Block for a community BBQ.

This Day of Mourning is for ALL Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and is also a chance to show our solidarity with the Doomadgee family and the Palm Island community.

STOP THE DEATHS IN POLICE CUSTODY
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH – JUSTICE FOR ALL

from: THE COORABIN

CORONER FINDS POLICEMAN TO
BLAME FOR MULRUNJI'S DEATH
ABC Radio "PM" Transcript
Reporter: David Curnow
Wednesday, 27 September, 2006

MARK COLVIN: Queensland's Deputy Coroner says the riot on Palm Island two years ago started after a policeman punched an Aboriginal man to death.

The Coroner, Christine Clements, says the officer punched the man, now known as Mulrunji, to death in a fit of anger while the man was in custody.

Handing down the findings of an inquest Ms Clements today described evidence from the officer as, at times, ludicrous, questionable and perplexing.

In the riot which the death sparked on the island, the police station was burnt down.

The Coroner says she isn't allowed to recommend criminal charges over the death but she has called for sweeping changes to policing in Indigenous communities.

And lawyers say the findings do appear to vindicate the community's anger over the affair.

This report from David Curnow.

DAVID CURNOW: For a community that feels it's been ignored and unfairly attacked, today's findings are a huge win for the people of Palm Island.

DAVID BULSEY: Well we all know what should happen after today, eh?

REPORTER: And that is?

DAVID BULSEY: Justice.

DAVID CURNOW: For nearly three hours this morning, Deputy Coroner Christine Clements read her report to a cramped courtroom in Townsville, packed with Mulrunji's family and friends and the media.

She describes the death as a terrible tragedy.

The man now known as Mulrunji, she says, was not a troublemaker, had never been arrested, and shouldn't have been arrested on that Friday morning in November, nearly two years ago.

Soon afterwards he was dead on the concrete floor of the Palm Island watch-house.

Mulrunji had been drunk. When he saw police arresting a friend of his, he challenged the officers, wanting to know why. They told him to go away, but he swore at them. Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley then arrested Mulrunji.

The Deputy Coroner says that was completely unjustified and based purely on the officer's need to exert his authority.

Mulrunji was brought to the Palm Island watch-house where he hit Senior Sergeant Hurley.

CHRISTINE CLEMENTS (voiceover): I am satisfied that Senior Sergeant Hurley lost his temper and hit Mulrunji after falling to the floor.

I conclude that these actions of Senior Sergeant Hurley caused the fatal injuries.

DAVID CURNOW: Police dragged Mulrunji to a cell, making no attempt to check on the injured man's health.

He died within the hour.

When an autopsy showed Mulrunji suffered four broken ribs and died from internal injuries including a ruptured liver, a riot broke out on the island.

The police station was torched and seven people are still before the courts facing charges over the incident.

The original inquest into the death ended when the State Coroner stood down last year amid claims of bias, and island residents weren't expecting much from today's rulings.

David Bulsey was a friend of Mulrunji's

DAVID BULSEY: Yeah, very surprised but I'm happy with it all. I think something going to come out of it.

REPORTER: You didn't think it would be this strong?

DAVID BULSEY: I didn't think so, no. You know, after all the other deaths in custody that no-one ever got convicted for it.

But hopefully this one will straighten a lot of things out and be good for all of us. You know, not just us on Palm Island, good for everybody.

We don't want more dying in custody, you know. Don't matter who they are; white, black or brown. We don't want anybody dying in custody.

DAVID CURNOW: The lawyer for the Palm Island Council, Andrew Boe, says the findings today are a win for the community.

ANDREW BOE: People are concerned that she has not made any recommendation for criminal charges or the like, but people need to understand that that is not her function and she's not even permitted to do so.

I do know that the matter has now been referred to the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions), and it's really in that office's court to decide whether there's sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges.

DAVID CURNOW: One of Christine Clements' key findings today was that the subsequent investigation into Mulrinji's death was inappropriate and flawed.

The officers sent to investigate the death knew Senior Sergeant Hurley, who met them at the airport, and they ate dinner at his house during the investigation.

Ms Clements said it's reprehensible that standards set after the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody 15 years ago are still not being followed.

Lawyer, Andrew Boe.

ANDREW BOE: This report has confirmed that despite all the talk, despite all the rhetoric on web pages about being sensitive to Indigenous issues, it doesn't actually occur in practice.

And until a significant proportion of the police service move in their heart towards recognising that it's not an act of generosity to be decent to Aboriginal people. It's something that Aboriginal people are entitled to receive.

Let's look at the fact that the, the fact that this man went into custody was for a street offence and the Coroner has found that he should not have been arrested. Every day in urban centres and in rural areas, Indigenous people are put into jail for street offences.

The Commission, the Royal Commission identified 15 years ago that this was an unacceptable standard of policing.

The police service have fought vigilantly to keep their right to arrest in these circumstances and we have to be brave enough and mature enough as a community to recognise that even if it is not racist by intent, it is racism by result.

DAVID CURNOW: The Queensland Police Commissioner, Bob Atkinson, is considering the findings but says he sees no grounds to suspend any of the officers involved in the affair.

Queensland's Police Union President, Gary Wilkinson, describes the inquest as a witch-hunt.

GARY WILKINSON: This decision by this Coroner has dumbfounded us. He's done nothing wrong and he has the full support of the union. Every police officer involved in this inquest has the full support of the union.

Hopefully the DPP will see through this rubbish and throw it out. Throw it in the bin where it belongs.

DAVID CURNOW: But for people like Aboriginal activist, Gracelyn Smallwood, this is the beginning of change around the nation.

GRACELYN SMALLWOOD: We hope that justice is going to be done for all Australians. That police officers misusing power have to be judged in the same way as everyone else in this country.

REPORTER: Could it be a new beginning for Palm Island?

GRACELYN SMALLWOOD: Absolutely, and a new beginning that, of this justice and reconciliation.

MARK COLVIN: That report by David Curnow.

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2006/s1750469.htm