00:00For veteran advocates like John Patterson, the walls of Darwin's overcrowded prison testify
00:07to the results of colonisation and a history of injustice against Aboriginal people.
00:12You know, jails in the Northern Territory, over 80% Aboriginal population.
00:18Yesterday in a historic public address, the Police Commissioner issued an apology for
00:22the role of police in those injustices, from frontier massacres to more recent events including
00:28the Stolen Generations and the NT Intervention.
00:31He set an Indigenous employment target of 30% across all ranks and promised an anti-racism
00:37strategy.
00:38It's been welcomed today by those who called for an apology months ago, as the inquest
00:43into the fatal police shooting of Kumunjai Walker unearthed more and more evidence of
00:48racist conduct within the ranks.
00:51You know, I see it as a new dawning, you know, a new dawning in the way police and Aboriginal
00:58communities and people will treat each other in the future, hopefully.
01:04I'm hoping now that this apology means that he is learning and growing and changing and
01:10I hope that means that other members of the force will do that too.
01:14The Commissioner has promised a separate apology to Yundamu and the Walpuri Nation after the
01:18inquest ends into Kumunjai Walker's death.
01:21In his speech, the Commissioner said he'd need to bring everyone along for the journey.
01:26But there's already been pushback.
01:28Today the Police Union responded with a statement saying members weren't told well in advance
01:33that the apology was coming and it's not the role of the Police Commissioner to comment
01:37on government policies including the Stolen Generations and the Intervention.
01:42They haven't outright rejected the Commissioner's calls for change, but say officers shouldn't
01:46unfairly be overburdened with blame.
01:49The Territory's Indigenous leaders urging the force to have courage.
01:53Be bold, brave and game and do things differently.
01:56You know, I think that's what this opportunity provides.
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