Category Archives: Australian police and policing

NSW police breached body-worn camera policies during shooting death of Indigenous man, coroner finds

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Inquest into death of Gomeroi man Stanley Russell urges changes to how officers handle people with an intellectual disability

A coroner delivering findings into the police shooting death of Indigenous man Stanley Russell said officers seriously breached their own policies on body-worn cameras during the incident.

The New South Wales deputy state coroner Carmel Forbes also recommended policy changes on how police handle people with intellectual disabilities, and urged them to clarify rules on when officers need to wear body cameras.

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Man shot dead by police in NSW after he allegedly stabbed officer

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Two constables in serious but stable condition in hospital after allegedly being threatened with knife at a Newcastle home

Police have shot dead a man in Newcastle after he allegedly stabbed an officer with a knife.

The man died at the scene and has yet to be identified.

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Queensland government concedes victims ‘may be disappointed’ by police disciplinary bungle

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Mark Ryan says many will be ‘disappointed’ by court decision that may see hundreds of sanctions overturned

The Queensland government has acknowledged victims “may be disappointed” by revelations that hundreds of disciplinary sanctions against police officers could be invalidated by a ruling of the state’s court of appeal.

The court last week found that disciplinary proceedings against two police officers – Det Sen Sgt David Cousins and Sgt William Johnson – had been brought incorrectly and were “invalid”. The court heard that a delegate for the police commissioner failed to appoint a specific officer to act as the “prescribed officer” after referring the allegations to the office of state discipline.

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Wreckage of plane carrying pilot and his pregnant wife found in central Queensland

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Rhiley Kuhrt and his wife, Maree, were on their way to visit family when their Piper Cherokee crashed

A man and his pregnant wife have been found dead after their plane crashed during a heavy storm in central Queensland.

Stockman Rhiley Kuhrt and his wife, Maree, were on their way to visit family when their Piper Cherokee crashed in the Mount Hector Range south of Proserpine on Sunday.

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‘Last straw’: First Nations adviser to Queensland police quits over Mareeba shooting

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Even if deceased man Aubrey Donahue had a knife, ‘he hasn’t got a knife like Crocodile Dundee’, says Prof Gracelyn Smallwood

For Prof Gracelyn Smallwood, a late-night phone call about another Aboriginal man being shot and killed by police was the final straw.

Aubrey Donahue, 27, died after being shot four times by police, who say he advanced on officers while armed with a knife in Mareeba, west of Cairns, on Saturday.

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Nazi salute will be captured in proposed ban on hate symbols, Queensland government says

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New bill also aims to ensure those who commit crimes motivated by prejudice face tougher penalties

Queensland’s attorney general has confirmed the Nazi salute will be captured under proposed laws that ban hate symbols and strengthen the state’s response vilification.

Shannon Fentiman said she had been “shocked” by the presence of Nazis at an anti-trans protest in Melbourne earlier this month.

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Queensland house where girl, 13, was allegedly tortured burns to the ground

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Police believe the Sunshine Coast home may have been set alight early Wednesday morning

The Queensland home where a girl was allegedly held against her will and tortured has been burnt to the ground days after vigilante threats to firebomb the property.

Police believe the home on the Sunshine Coast may have been set alight in the early hours of Wednesday.

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Queensland police say there is no footage of shooting death of Indigenous man

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Family of Aubrey Donahue had requested body-worn camera vision of incident in Mareeba but police say none exists

Queensland police say no body-worn camera footage captured the moment an Aboriginal man was fatally shot, despite more than 15 officers being present.

Family members of Aubrey Donahue, 27, say he was unarmed, holding a mobile phone and attempting to surrender to police when he was shot four times by tactical officers in the north Queensland town of Mareeba.

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Australia spends billions ‘failing to police’ cannabis that earns black market $25bn a year, Greens say

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David Shoebridge says legalising the drug would bring in $28bn in tax revenue in first decade

Australia’s cannabis industry could be earning the black market $25bn a year and, rather than policing it, we could be gaining revenue from it by legalising it, Greens senator David Shoebridge has said.

“Law enforcement is spending billions of public dollars failing to police cannabis, and the opportunity here is to turn that all on its head by legalising it,” he said.

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University lecturer ‘deeply sorry’ for killing wife after argument, Melbourne court hears

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Adam Brown has pleaded guilty to murdering Chen Cheng at their home in April 2022

A university lecturer is “deeply sorry” for stabbing his wife to death after an argument about kindergarten plans escalated into the couple arming themselves with knives, a Melbourne court has heard.

Adam Brown, 40, a former Deakin University digital media lecturer who also taught gender studies and women’s history, last year pleaded guilty to the murder of his wife of five years, Chen Cheng.

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Queensland passes controversial youth crime laws after heated human rights debate

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New laws include the overriding of the Human Rights Act to allow children to be charged for breaching bail

The Queensland government’s controversial youth crime laws have been passed in parliament despite strong opposition by human rights advocates and experts who warn they are ineffective and will result in more children incarcerated.

The laws include overriding the state’s Human Rights Act to make breach of bail an offence for children. They will also expand an electronic monitoring trial for children as young as 15 and provide additional funding of $9m to assist victims of crime.

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Brisbane watch house officer tells inquest she did not check if Aunty Sherry Tilberoo was breathing

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Debra Haigh tells hearing she now understands she should have stood in front of cell for longer and used a torch to look for movement

A Brisbane watch house officer who was suspended after the death of First Nations woman Shiralee Tilberoo has admitted during an inquest that she did not check whether she was breathing or shine a torch into the darkened cell on nine occasions.

The Birri Gubba woman – also known as Aunty Sherry – died of a brain aneurysm in Brisbane City watch house in the early hours of the morning on 10 September 2020.

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Racism in NT police ‘systemic’, senior Indigenous public servant tells Kumanjayi Walker inquest

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NT Australian of the Year Leanne Liddle describes consultations to develop an Aboriginal justice agreement as ‘devastating’

A senior Indigenous public servant in the Northern Territory government has told an inquest that she had seen “so many examples of systemic racism in the NT police force” that negotiating a justice agreement for the territory was “one of the most depressing and saddest experiences” of her life.

Leanne Liddle, an Arrernte woman and director of the Aboriginal justice unit in the NT attorney general’s department, developed the Aboriginal justice agreement (AJA) after extensive consultation in Aboriginal communities.

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NT police officer denies Kumanjayi Walker text was ‘angry racist message’ to ‘protect boy in blue’

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Inquest into death of Aboriginal man hears text describing Walker as ‘shit cunt’ was forwarded to Zachary Rolfe

A Northern Territory sergeant who described the Aboriginal victim of a police shooting as a “shit cunt” in a text message in which he also told a colleague how to “answer his critics” in relation to the shooting has denied it was an “angry racist message designed to protect a boy in blue”.

Sergeant Ian Nankivell gave evidence on Thursday at an inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker, who was shot dead by Constable Zachary Rolfe at the remote community of Yuendumu in 2019. Rolfe was cleared of criminal charges including murder in relation to the shooting.

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Victoria police chief warns officers they’re not above the law after rise in disciplinary incidents

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Shane Patton reveals 17 officers were dismissed in 2022, and says it is the ‘type of offending’ that is concerning

Victoria’s police chief commissioner, Shane Patton, has publicly warned his force it is not above the law after a jump in disciplinary hearings last year, with officers accused of family violence, sexual harassment and unjustified use of police information.

Patton on Thursday revealed 17 police officers had been dismissed in 2022, while a further 31 resigned while their cases were being heard, when he says they saw the “writing on the wall”.

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Daughter of Sydney developer released on bail after being charged with fraud offences

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Court hears allegations against Ashlyn Nassif, 27, relate to Skyview development in Castle Hill

Ashlyn Nassif, the daughter of Jean Nassif, a Sydney property developer has been released on bail after she was arrested by the New South Wales organised crime squad as part of a major fraud investigation into a controversial multimillion development in the city’s north-west.

Nassif, 27, appeared in the Downing Centre local court on Wednesday to apply for bail after spending the night in prison after a series of raids across Sydney.

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Deputy commissioner highly critical of botched arrest of Kumanjayi Walker, inquest hears

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Murray Smalpage tells coroner he is ‘struggling to find a reason’ for deviation from arrest plan on day Warlpiri teen was killed by Zachary Rolfe

The Northern Territory police’s second-highest serving officer has told an inquest he is “struggling to find a reason why” there was such a deviation from the “detailed” plan to arrest Warlpiri teenager Kumanjayi Walker on the day he was shot and killed by Constable Zachary Rolfe.

Walker, 19, was shot dead by Rolfe during a botched arrest in the remote Northern Territory community of Yuendumu in 2019. Rolfe was cleared of all criminal charges in relation to the shooting.

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NSW police says Lidia Thorpe will not be charged for blocking its Mardi Gras float

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Social media video shows senator laying in front of police float, temporarily blocking Oxford Street parade

New South Wales police has confirmed it will not charge Senator Lidia Thorpe for temporarily blocking the Sydney Mardi Gras parade on Saturday night.

Thorpe lay down in front of the NSW police float on Oxford Street, momentarily stopping the parade, to boos from the crowd.

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Powerpoint and politics: inside Queensland Labor’s shock decision to lock up children for breaching bail

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Government claims a bipartisan approach to respond to community concerns, but experts warn of increased pressure on the buckling youth detention system

At a community crime forum in Toowoomba last week, the Queensland police minister, Mark Ryan, announced the government’s new youth bail plan – an “intensive supervision” program involving police doing home checks and patrols.

It didn’t go down well. Ryan was hounded by attendees and mocked for factual comments that most people on bail do not reoffend.

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Zachary Rolfe leaves Australia after saying NT police were planning to sack him

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Rolfe’s father says he expects his son to return and give evidence at Kumanjayi Walker inquest if his legal action to avoid doing so fails

The Northern Territory police officer cleared of murdering Kumanjayi Walker has left Australia, only days after he says he was issued another disciplinary notice and informed by command that they planned to sack him from the force because of his mental health.

Zachary Rolfe said in a 2,500-word statement published on Facebook on Thursday night that he was a “good cop” who “loved the job”, but that he had been “painted” as racist and violent.

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