(Federal Court of Australia, Wotton v State of Queensland (No 5) [2016] FCA 1457: Summary (Mortimer J, Dec. 5, 2016), Federal Court of Australia website. Deputy Coroner Christine Clements finds Snr Sgt Hurley responsible for Mulrunji's fatal injuries. The media and the Beattie government ignored Doomadgee's death when it happened on November 19. The main suspect was Senior Sergeant Christopher Hurley, a charismatic cop with long . Terrence Alfred Kidner sentenced to 16 months in jail in Townsville District Court after pleading guilty to rioting on Palm Island. Mulrunji's death was repeatedly branded "cold-blooded murder". By Damien Carrick on Law Report. Mulrunji visited his new baby niece early on the morning of 19 November 2004; He was drinking beer at the time but was not considered to be drunk; He was carrying a bucket with a mud crab which he was going to sell; He then walked from his mother and sister's house to Dee Street where he was picked up; He was walking along the street singing ". [95], By April 2007 it was reported that the PCYC Centre had become a great success, a place where young and old participate in numerous sporting, educational and cultural activities in a safe and comfortable environment, and the focal point of re-building positive relations between the police and the community.[96]. Rioters burn down the police station, courthouse and the home of officer-in-charge Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley. [12], Doomadgee family spokesman, Brad Foster, claimed that after the men had been put into the cells, fifteen minutes lapsed before a seven-second check was done on the inmates. The applicants also claimed that the QPS had contravened the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) (Federal Register of Legislation website)in its handling of the investigation of the death in custody. It is not an easy one to tell. These works are also available for worldwide use and reuse under CC0 1.0 Universal. Witness Patrick Bramwell hangs himself on Palm Island. (Summary,supra.). ), Mulrunjis autopsy showed that he died of major internal injuries. The Premier accepted responsibility for giving "a new minister such a tough portfolio". "We wanted to make certain there was law and order to protect the community.". Ms Aplin said she never wanted to forget Mr Doomadgee. Criminal Misconduct Commission announces that no disciplinary charges will be laid against Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley over Mulrunji's death. "We wouldn't have [decorated] it down there," Ms Aplin said. Premier Peter Beattie was due to open the new facility in February 2005, in the lead-up to the launch (while the Coronial inquiry was just beginning) Mr Beattie was asked not to proceed with the launch by the Doomadgee family. (Bramwell was an exclusive witness for only 6 to 10 seconds, and volunteered incriminating evidence at the Coronial hearing that Hurley punched Mulrunji. He and the policeman who booked him became the centerpieces of causes- for those seeking redress for the mistreatment of aboriginal people, and for those sympathetic to the problems of . What really happened to Cameron Doomadgee? But Doomadgee's family says no amount of money will . Conditions were imposed such as not being allowed to return to Palm Island, not even for the funeral of Mulrunji. Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Tall Man: The Death of Doomadgee Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains the name and image of someone who has died. The subsequent trial of Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley - who had been decorated . 105and therefore are not subject to copyright and are free to use and reuse. The only people who deserve an apology are the police officers who were in the police station whilst it was being burnt down. (Id. Cameron's brother Lloyd Doomadgee. ), Wotton was later convicted of inciting a riot and served 19 months in prison before being released on parole. [45] Public funded investigation and prosecution alone cost at least A$7 million. Palm Island still struggling with death in custody 10 years on https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2016-12-09/australia-police-response-to-aboriginal-death-in-custody-and-ensuing-riot-ruled-discriminatory/. [58], Sen. Sgt. "I think that's something at the end of the day that we have to live with.". [24], A total of 28 Indigenous Australians were arrested and charged with offences ranging from arson to riotous behaviour in the weeks following the riot. In response an angry mob burned down the police . Palm Island: Police terror follows death in custody | Green Left Additionally the Palm Island Council moved a resolution asking that the Centre not be opened until its use and occupancy could be agreed upon between the State and Local Governments. The history wars famously involved the 'black armband view of history'; a pejorative phrase used by conservatives to attack historians who they thought focussed too much on the negative impact of colonisation on Australia's indigenous [34], After Coroner Clements made her findings but before they were overturned by the District and Supreme Courts as being inconsistent with the evidence QPU President Gary Wilkinson was highly critical. [19] Subsequent to the autopsy report reading a succession of angry young Aboriginal men spoke to the crowd and encouraged immediate action be taken against the police. (Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth). (, I have found that police acted in these ways because they were dealing with an Aboriginal community, and with the community of Palm Island in particular. The Library of Congress has no objection to the international use and reuse of Library U.S. Government works onloc.gov. U.S. Reports: Dresner v. City of Tallahassee, 375 U.S. 136 (1963). [84], Then Queensland Indigenous Policy Minister Liddy Clark offered for activist Murandoo Yanner and Carpentaria Land Council chief executive Brad Foster to accompany her to Palm Island in the weeks after the riot. Politically, this event raised questions relating to the federal government's 19871991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and whether its recommendations to prevent deaths in custody had been implemented by the government. On November 19th 2004, Cameron Doomadgee, also known as Mulrunji, was arrested for allegedly causing a public nuisance. Lawyers for both the Doomadgee family and Hurley asked that the Coroner disqualify himself (although for different reasons). [64], After the Attorney General's decision to prosecute was made public members of the Union held rallies in every major city in Queensland protesting against the political intervention, and in support of Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley. "Everyone was angry," he said. [21], Numerous police officers were flown into Palm Island following the riot. [26], By 6 December 2004, 19 accused were granted bail by the Queensland Chief Magistrate. Aboriginal activist Murrandoo Yanner and relative of the Doomadgee family was at the centre of controversy over his calls for Aboriginal people to bash all "racist cops" and for all police stations to be burnt. [83] Police actions were later found to breach the Racial Discrimination Act, with the raids being "unnecessary, disproportionate" and police having "acted in these ways because they were dealing with an Aboriginal community. No justice a decade on from horrific Palm Island death in custody On November 19th 2004, Cameron Doomadgee, also known as Mulrunji, was arrested for allegedly causing a public nuisance. [63] Wilkinson later publicly apologised and pleaded guilty to the contempt. During this time no attempts were made to resuscitate the prisoner, although the autopsy found that there would have been no chance of saving him. These actions followed the death in custody of Aboriginal man Cameron Doomadgee, referred to by his traditional name Mulrunji after his arrest and confrontation with . Chris Hurley receives a confidential payout of A$102,955 from the Queensland Government. The officer could not find a pulse. [12] On the first day of the inquiry the Coroner also disclosed that he had headed the complaints section of the Criminal Justice Commission in the early 1990s, when several complaints had been made about Hurley, but he had not handled the investigation and could not remember the complaints. 26 November 2004 Doomadgee's autopsy results indicate that he died from internal injuries, with the island's pathologist claiming they are the result of "a fall". In addition, a subgroup of people were also represented, being those who were affected by an operation carried out by armed officers of the Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) on 27 and 28 November 2004, and which included children who were in or near the houses that were entered and searched by SERT officers. (Id. a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate. Forty minutes later he was dead in the jailhouse. I have found they conducted themselves, including Senior Sergeant Hurley while he was there, with a sense of impunity, impervious to the reactions and perceptions of Palm Islanders who were, in large numbers, distressed and agitated about the death of Mulrunji. [31], Barnes had previously been the Aboriginal Legal Aid solicitor for two families before the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. [40] Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Sir Laurence Street, was selected to review the decision not to charge Hurley over the death of Mulrunji. Cameron Doomadgee's sisters says their brother's death was the first of several family tragedies and they are yet to come to terms with what they see as a terrible injustice. In May, a third coronial inquest delivered an open finding but was highly critical of the police involvement in the case. Web Page. [65], The Police Union were apparently incensed that a police officer should be the first person in Queensland since the public prosecutor's office was established to be indicted based on a decision of someone other than the DPP and argued that it amounted to political interference in the Justice System. The family and the state coroner were informed of the death at about 3pm that afternoon. Cameron Doomadgee was an obscure man living an obscure life, but his demise had a gravity that sucked in countless strands of modern and historical Australia.

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