00:00The investigation was prompted by allegations brought forward during the coronial inquest
00:06into the death of Indigenous teenager Kumunjai Walker.
00:10A lot of that evidence surrounded the culture and conduct within the elite TRG group within
00:16NT Police.
00:17And some of that evidence revolved around these mock awards that were handed out between
00:21officers up to 2015.
00:24Now in her report yesterday, former judge Patricia Kelly said that those awards were
00:29indeed racist in nature.
00:32However the investigation did go wider, it invited members of the force to come forward
00:36with their experiences of racism during their time serving with the force.
00:41And what came out of that were allegations against five police officers.
00:44However, because of the nature of the investigation, the complainants had anonymity and so Justice
00:51Kelly found there was no admissible evidence coming forward about those officers because
00:56the evidence against them was redacted.
00:58Now that's been well received, particularly by the NT Chief Minister who said yesterday
01:03that she always stood by the force when it comes to these allegations and that she effectively
01:08feels the matter has been put to bed.
01:11Commissioner Michael Murphy said in a statement that he had accepted that there had been past
01:15failings within the police but that they were committed to change.
01:19But it's the nature of the investigation and the fact it was limited for legal reasons
01:23that's led to questions around its efficacy.
01:26Jeswin Yorratnam is the NT Anti-Discrimination Commissioner.
01:30He told the ABC that it's clear that the report has not put allegations of racism within the
01:35force to bed.
01:36The word systemic, if you look at the report, is not at all found.
01:41So to say that it exonerates police from systemic discrimination perhaps is not accurate.
01:45The ABC also spoke to Dana Levitt, she's with the law firm that's brought a class action
01:50on behalf of Aboriginal police officers.
01:53And she says the notion that there's been no allegations of racism after 2015 is a nonsense.
02:00Her class action includes evidence that relates to right up to the present day.
02:06It includes racial stereotypes, it includes racial insults hurled around within the police
02:11force and she says that the fact that the investigation was limited in scope undermines
02:17its very nature.
02:18To suggest that they're imagining it, they're effectively gaslighting the Aboriginal community
02:24in the Northern Territory by saying your experiences didn't happen and don't matter.
02:31And I question the value of even publishing this report about nothing in the first place
02:38because it's meaningless and it's likely to be counterproductive.
02:43The NT ICAC has said repeatedly it does not have the resources to conduct a systemic,
02:48a wide review of the NT police force.
02:50The NT Anti-Discrimination Commissioner says his office wants to step forward and conduct
02:55such a review.
02:56It wants to help police understand the way it handles racism within its force, in recruitment,
03:02within officers and the way it deals with members of the public.
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