Family of Kumanjayi Walker say they were not adequately consulted over inquest timing

Constable Zachary Rolfe shot Walker three times while trying to arrest him on 9 November 2019 in Yuendumu, about 300km from Alice Springs. A jury unanimously found Rolfe not guilty of murder and two alternative charges on 11 March this year after a six-week trial in the NT supreme court.

The Walker, Robertson and Lane families submitted five reasons supporting the proposal to break the inquest into separate blocks, saying they were yet to receive financial assistance which would allow them to participate, and that the death and lengthy criminal trial had traumatised them.

These included decisions made to send the heavily armed immediate response team, of which Rolfe was a member, to Yuendumu; the training and any disciplinary history of Rolfe; the response of the police and health authorities to the community after the shooting; the history of interactions between Walker and the justice and health systems; and actions by police immediately after the shooting.