A warning, this next story contains images of an Indigenous man who has died. A coronial inquest in the Northern Territory has been told the police officer who fatally shot a 19-year-old aboriginal man is "dishonest" "ego-driven” and held "overtly racist attitudes".
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00:00Walpola Richerman Kumunjai Walker died more than five years ago when he was shot by former
00:07NT Police Constable Zachary Rolfe during an attempted arrest at the remote community of
00:12Yundamoo in Central Australia.
00:15His family have gathered outside of the coroner's court every day that the inquest has been
00:20sitting since it began in 2022 and today they urged the coroner to find the truth as lawyers
00:27made their final arguments before the coroner writes her findings and recommendations.
00:34Counsel assisting the coroner told the court she believed Zachary Rolfe held overtly racist
00:39attitudes and was undisciplined, dishonest, ego-driven and contemptuous of authority prior
00:45to shooting Mr. Walker.
00:47She submitted that some aspects of his behaviour as a police officer in Alice Springs was highly
00:52problematic.
00:53She also accused him of lying during his evidence both at his murder trial in 2022
00:59and when he gave evidence at the coronial inquest, suggesting that Mr. Rolfe's evidence
01:04that Mr. Walker had reached for his firearm during the attempted arrest was a fabrication.
01:10Mr. Rolfe has previously rejected suggestions he lied under oath and his lawyers will address
01:15the coroner at a later time.
01:18Mr. Rolfe has already been acquitted of all charges related to the shooting.
01:22Dr. Dwyer told the court she believed Mr. Rolfe bore the ultimate responsibility for
01:27what went wrong on the night Mr. Walker was shot but she argued that the NT police force
01:32as a whole failed to pick up on red flags that Mr. Rolfe was using force in what she
01:38called an alarming number of instances and that he was mentored by senior police who
01:44likely reinforced problematic behaviour and attitudes.
01:48The coroner has spent more than two years investigating this police shooting, exploring
01:53systemic issues in the NT's health, education and housing systems.
01:57She's also uncovered evidence of widespread racism within the Northern Territory Police
02:02Force.
02:03She'll spend the next two days here in Alice Springs hearing from all of the parties involved,
02:09taking in their final submissions and arguments before she adjourns to write her final findings
02:15and recommendations.
02:18For more information visit www.fema.gov