I didn’t get a chance to post this Crikey story last week, because I was on the hop between Sydney and Newcastle and back, but here’s a piece I wrote on Thursday on the politics of the Palm Island inquest – which has found that the death in custody of Aboriginal man Mulrinji was caused by a police beating. Over the fold…
3. Beattie in choppy waters over Palm Island
Mark Bahnisch writes:
Peter Beattie probably wishes that global warming would lead to Palm Island being submerged by the ocean. The troubled Indigenous community on the Island – and their interactions with police – have spelled intermittent political trouble for Beattie.
Early in 2005, Beattie was cleared by the Crime and Misconduct Commission of a bribery complaint brought against him by Palm Island Council. Beattie had forgiven a debt owed by the Council in return for community support for his plans to ease tensions with police. The death of Aboriginal man Mulrunji in November 2004 led to angry scenes, with the cop shop in flames, and Indigenous activist Murandoo Yanner threatening “payback�.
Acting State Coroner Christine Clements has now concluded the inquest into Mulrunji’s death in custody. She found that Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley caused Mulrunji’s death through an assault which split his liver in two. Legal considerations mean that Clements cannot recommend Hurley be prosecuted.
The findings have been referred to the DPP. But Clements has also made a range of strong recommendations designed to avoid future deaths in custody. The Palm Island community, and other Indigenous leaders, have welcomed the outcome of the inquest as a step towards justice.
It’s likely that different evidentiary standards between an inquest and a criminal trial will see the DPP not proceed with charges. Beattie faces an unenviable political position in all this.
The Police Union is a powerful force in state politics. In Judy Spence, Beattie has finally found a Minister the Union is happy with, though civil libertarians would say too happy. Spence is being reported this morning as describing many of the recommendations as “unworkable� and the Union has charged that the inquest was a political witch hunt.
But, similar to the Noongar decision in WA, Beattie faces strong pressure to act on the recommendations from the Indigenous community and within the ALP. At this stage, Beattie is talking due process in terms of the DPP and studying the recommendations. Of course, many are not dissimilar from those made by the Deaths in Custody Royal Commission 15 years ago and still not implemented.
Beattie will need all his political skills to navigate these choppy waters. One of his first post-election announcements was the abolition of a separate Department of Indigenous Affairs. He might be regretting that now. A Minister to take the heat on this one could be useful, particularly if Island tensions erupt again should charges not be laid.
The likely outcome of all this is yet another report. Beattie has allready announced a task force to “look into” the coroners findings. (mirror politics)
the coroners report said
“It is reprehensible that the detailed recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal
Deaths in Custody should have to be referred to, so many years after the Royal Commission. The
evidence is clear however that these recommendations are still apt and still ignored.”
-Chris Clements Acting State Coroner 27 September 2006
There is no indication that things will change because of this death or the coroners report.
This incident is historic in that despite all the huff and puff of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, since then (and I believe up until then) there has never before been an official recognition that a death in custody was somebody’s fault.
However all the public attention has been around the brutality of the attack, the first cover-up investigatiom and now the controversy created by the police union’s support for Hurley. The substantive issues of the Royal commission’s reccomendations or the coroners reccomendations, in particular abolishing public drunkenness laws to see alcoholism as a health not criminal issue and the establishment of cell watch, community watch and diversionary centres, are no more likely to be acted on now because the issue has become simply a scandal that Beattie must cover up and move on a.s.a.p.
Beatties sole focus of Aboriginal affairs for the past 3 years has been alcohol prohibition, in direct opposition to the RCIADIC recomendtions. Will he lose his arrogance, admit his policy failure and do the right thing?
The Brisbane Aboriginal community is having a meeting about these issues on Friday and everyone is welcome.
details here http://johntraceysoapbox.blogspot.com/2006/10/brisbane-aboriginal-community-meeting.html
Would he be Peter Beattie if he did?
It seems to me that the one thing that every body seems to ignore is the fact that the dead man was drunk, belligerent, and threw the first punch striking the police offer in the face. But this seems to have been lost in all of the self-righteous blather about this matter. This is not a “Rodney King” situation But that of a policeman who seems to have been seriously provoked in the first place while serving in a hostile environment riven with the scourge of excessive alcohol consumption and social dysfunction.
Either Hurley was in control of his actions or he wasn’t. According to Ian Hall’s argument above, Hurley may well be exonerated for killing anyone who came within kicking distance that night because he was a man driven by “forces” beyond his control: “serious provocation”, “hostile environment”, “social dysfunction”. Rationalise it away, but whatever you do, don’t condemn.
Interestingly, something like this argument was mounted in an attempt to exculpate the 9/11 terrorists. Here’s what the Communist Party of Great Britain said about 9/11.
http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/400/response.html#swpresponse
They detected “provocation”, hostile environment”, “social dysfunction” to be fine excuses as well.
Maybe Iain. However, Mulrunji had no previous arrest history, was employed ( both extrordinary occurrences on Palm Island) and was arrested for shouting a comment at Hurley (over the arrest of another aboriginal guy) the detail of which, Hurley didn’t actually hear.
Hurley (who has spent much of his career in aboriginal communities) has had between 20-30 undue violence force complaints recorded against him, none of which have been sustained but he’s a big bloke and 40 minutes after he chucked Mulrunji in the paddy wagon, the guy was dead with a liver smacked
in half.
Cops don’t automatically kill guys when they’re “provoked” Iain. If they did, there would be masses of dead bodies clogging the streets. They’re trained to be disciplined. If they can’t cop that basic standard of behaviour they have no business doing the job.
It’s not OK to kill mouthy, pissed blackfellas under any circumstances Iain. Especially if you’re a cop. And especially if you have all the power.
Surely you’re not saying, Iain, that all that police training against the use of excessive force when restraining belligerent offenders is useless? Or that we shouldn’t hold our police officers to the standard of not killing prisoners just because they’ve pissed them off?
The officer was entitled to act forcefully to restrain the prisoner, and could hardly be blamed for not being all that gentle when doing so to a man who’d just punched him in the face. That’s far from being entitled to strike the man so hard with his knee or boot that his liver split in two.
Iain – ” The drunken boong deserved it” is the emotional attitude that the police union, and it seems you, are appealing to as a justification for murder.
Geoff has beaten me to point out the facts of the arrest. However, allow me to emphasise that Mulrunji was arrested for being drunk – not for violence or abuse or anything else in accordance with the Qld. govt.’s draconian and racist alcohol prohibition regime.
Hurley finished arresting one man then drove off in pursuit of Mulrunji – simply because he had complained to an Aboriginal liason officer about the first arrest, and Hurley did not know what he said.
“The first punch” was not a punch but a back hand (according to autopsy evidence) and occured after being picked up off the street, and presumably some words were exchanged during the arrest and trip to the watch house. “the first punch” came fairly late in the altercation.
Mulrunji’s blood alcohol level was .2 or something like that. How many rich white party goers commit the same crime in suburbia every week?
Bhanish’s proudly documented jaunt to Sydney last weekend should have warrented a Bhagdad style shock and awe bombing campaign if public drunkenness can justify Hurley’s actions on Palm Island. (no offence Mark)
Yet simply because he had been drinking and was an Aborigine, some ask us to justify the cops arresting bashing and kiling Mulrunji.
And finally, this “he was under pressure” defence is bullshit. Domestic violence allways occurs under extreme emotional pressure. Should perpetrators be forgiven for losing their temper or should they be charged? Just because Hurley has a uniform does not make him above the law that the rest of us have to compy with or face the consequences.
Sorry.
the RBB comment was from me, forgot to change the name thingy.
Reg is too drunk to make a comment at present.
Hurley was either in control of his actions and therefore guilty of murder or he was not in control of his actions in which case he’s not fit to be a police officer.
What I don’t understand behind all this equivocating and umming and aahhing on the part of Beattie is why an actual charge or conviction of murder is necessary to sack someone from their job. He certainly shouldn’t be given a paid holiday on non-operational duties on the Gold Coast.
Word. That’s absolutely the crux of the case.
tig tog – you are absolutely correct in terms of the particular incident.
However, the attempted cover up by the police in the first investigation (by Hurley’s mate), which proclaimed that Hurley had done nothing wrong, suggests a systematic conspiracy involving more that a single officer.
Beattie, Atkinson and Spence’s follow up are part of this systemic conspiracy. The issue goes a lot deeper than a single rogue officer.
The police union’s contemptuous villification of the court is part of this too which has significance too. If the police have evolved to a self serving brotherhood that operates outside of and has no respect for the courts iand law is a deeply disturbing development.
The racism of the police has bashed, falsley arrested and killed many Aborigines in the past, all with the approval or ignorance of the court. Now the cops have turned on the court itself because it challenges police power and solidarity.
And….. it is not just deaths in cutody or Palm Island where this systemic conspiracy of racism manifests.
take not of Rob Schwarten’s (Qld. Housing minister) villification of Andrew Bartlett for daring to stick up for the Woorabinda community.
“Senator Bartlett is good at whingeing but when it comes to offering up solutions to rampant violence, vandalism, overcrowding and destruction of public facilities, he has no answers,� Mr Schwarten said.
“No wonder the Democrats are a pathetic joke at the local, state and federal level and look likely to be wiped out at the next election.”
http://www.andrewbartlett.com/blog/?p=380#comments
The state government’s indigenous agenda is a total disaster on every front, but criticism is not tolerated in order to cover up the gross incompetence and resulting suffering by real human beings.
Iain Hall,
Kicking and punching someone to death in reply to a single punch hardly constitutes a “proportionate response”. If it did, and it became a community norm, then we would have one hundred plus deaths every week in our school playgrounds.
Reg B-B and John Tracey,
You strike me as a couple of white shit-stirrers who are doing the cause of Aboriginal Australia no good at all. Aboriginal disadvantage is the greatest of all scourges in this country but neither of you have the insight or maturity to offer anything useful to obviate the problem.
Take a long, hard look at yourselves, boys.
Hello again Steve.
I co-wrote the following submission into the senate enquiry ito stolen wages.
http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/legcon_ctte/stolen_wages/submissions/sub05.pdf
In this we suggest a solutions based response indigenous disadvantage rather than a rights, welfare or court based response.
We also suggest what a major part of that solution might be.
Steve you are already aware of this (making your criticism above a dishonest cheap shot) but others may be interested……
on a recent catalaxy thread I explore prosperity as an alternative to welfare .http://catallaxyfiles.com/?p=2140
On another catalaxy thread I propose an alternative paradigm for policing on Palm Island
post 41 http://catallaxyfiles.com/index.php?p=2129&cp=1#comments
What do you offer?
quote “Legal considerations mean that Clements cannot recommend Hurley be prosecuted. ”
Why not ? Surely it cannot be murder or manslaughter under the circumstances, otherwise this copper would have been charged with Murder!
The Coroner can’t recommend publicly charges of murder or manslaughter in inquest findings, but only refer the case to the DPP. It’s as a result of legislative changes designed to protect the presumption of innocence should the DPP decide that there isn’t a case to be brought. The evidentiary standards at an inquest are different from those at a criminal trial, because the former is an inquiry into the truth, whereas the latter is a proceeding designed to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The DPP has to decide whether a charge of manslaughter should be brought.
To the honourable B’stard
even if it was clearly murder or even just offensive language, the coroner is bound by new Queensland laws not to reccomend prosecution publically. Any situation, not just this one. They are allowed to make confidential submissions to the DPP independent of the public findings. Given the tone of Clememts’ report I have no doubt she has reccomended prosecution of what, on the basis of evidence, is a prima facie case of manslaughter.
I might add, a new court case cannot undoe the findings of fact from the coroner. If the cop gets off it will be on a point of law, not insufficient evidence. The facts of the matter have been set in concrete at the coroners level, which a magistrates court will rely on solely in a committal hearing.
Yes, John, that’s what I was getting at when I said the Coroner couldn’t recommend charges publicly.
yes I see your point! However, the police traditionally bring charges without the aid of the DPP! Perhaps QLD is different
In NSW we have a DPP. They are a pain! The good old days were where the police made the charges, with or without consultation with the Crown prosecutor are better!
It appears the police were not prepared to charge one of their own that dreadful evening based on evidence available! So they leave it to the DPP and trhe coroner!
I suppose the police find it more convenient to leave it to a neutral authority. I say neutral as one of their own was involved and they thought it best to leace it to others!
hi kim, your post hadn’t appeared when I wrote mine.
No probs, John. Happens a lot!
I have just got off the phone to Palm Island.
The new cell watch program was started there about 3 months ago. (Reg has been helping them)
It is relying on CDEP (work for the dole) for some of its key staff. At least one full time employee has just had his wage cut to $17k – the same as the dole – for a 38 hour week.
I asked what award they were on. The answer – what’s an award?
The cell watch program is managed on a day to day basis by the P.I. mens group. However it is controlled by the state govt. who hire and fire and most importantly provide funding for it.
Until the state can get over meaningless tokenism as a response to major crises, the crises will continue.
apart from a basic principle of a fair days pay for a fair days work, which still seems to be a value escaping state indigenous policy, this situation cannot allow for the job to be done properly if it cant even pay proper wages to staff.
My friend John T is poor at maths, $17k is more than the dole but about 1/2 of the appropriate SACS award for a 38 hour week.
It’s very poor form. They ought to be paid properly!
Yes, the dole is around 12.5k I think.
Anna Bligh says “This is a very complex issue”
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200610/s1754031.htm
I suspect there are few coroners reports as succinct and complete as this one. All the DPP has to decide whether there is a prima facie case or not. Where is the complexity?
The only complexity is the political shannanigans of the cops, why does such politics cause complexity to routine legal procedure?
Mike Reynolds (Qld cabinet minister and member for Palm Island) criticism of govt. and police inaction is an example of how politicised this has become. A simple assessment as to whether the report warrents prosecution, that a lawyer would do in perhaps 1/2 an hour, including considering time, has become a convoluted political drama including the police union and disagreements at cabinet level.
The facts are not complex, the task is not complex. Bligh’s defence of inertia is just backing up her mates Beatie and Atkinson.
Mike Reynolds is no longer a Minister, but the new Speaker of the House.
Thanx Mark, I forgot.
Reynolds has also criticised the Palm Island Grog laws and was told to pull his head in, which I am glad to see that he has not done.
Reynolds has been the only ALP member that has done or said anything of integrity on Palm Island. Beattie, Spence, Bligh and Schwarten seem to have found a comfortable consensus of sweeping the issues under the carpet. And the new minister for not-Aboriginal affairs has not yet popped his head up on these issues. Obviously a Beatie/Bligh yes-man.
With the abolition of the Department of Aboriginal and torres Strait Islander policy, which followed the abolition of the states indigenous reference group means that the Beattie/Bligh machine has now assumed a classic colonial administration of the natives.
The primary agency of indigenous policy in Qld is still the police, just like Joh’s time.
It’s understandable to focus on what happens to the Sargent, but I think there is a risk him being seen as a one-off or a bad apple – Based on the coroner’s report, I’d be surprised if the DPP didn’t recommend a manslaughter charge, but we’ll have to wait and see. But the Coroner’s report highlighted a lot of systemic problems too, and the POlice Union’s reponse showed there’s some significant cultural problems within parts of the police service too. Whilst it’s important that people feel that they are receiving justice, the wider issues shouldn’t be ignored by focusing too much on what happens to the Sargent.
There’s no reason why a diversionary centre hadn’t already been established for people affected by alcohol or other drugs, have a properly resourced cell watch program. There are examples of this in other parts of the state. The state government could also put its mney where it’s mouth is and start paying the rent on the buildings they occupy on Palm and start giving the Council more direct control over what they can use their land for and what sorts of leases they can establish.
I’m not convinced that this is necessarily going to be a political mindfield for Beattie Labor, but it would be good if enough public pressure was created to make it one – otherwise it will subside slowly down into the status quo as time drifts on.
Rally and March
Justice for Mulrinji
Stop black deaths in Custody
Rally 10am, Tues Oct 10, Queens Park Brisbane
(Cnr Elizabeth and George Sts)
March to State Parliament.
Have seen lots of people take a swing at a police officer, quite often when that officer is arresting a third party.
But have never seen anyone backhand an officer. It is always a closed fist.
Perhaps Cameron Doomdadgee was exceptional in more ways than one.
If the CDEP rate isn’t enough for the participants in the “cell watch” programme, then those who feel it isn’t enough money are welcome to put their hands into their pockets & make up the difference.
Are there any witnesses to the arrest and detention of Cameron Doomadgee?
Hi Steve,
The nature of Mulrunji’s punch/backhand is not known – just the nature of bruising through the autopsy. It may have been an awkward punch, or a backhand if Hurly was behind or beside him, perhaps pushing him through the door or up the stairs – we will never know.
The arrest had witnesses but all the cops stayed out of sight when the killing happened.
this is the version of the arrest that the coroner ran with http://www.justice.qld.gov.au/courts/coroner/findings/mulrunji270906.pdf
“Police Liaison Officer Bengaroo told investigating police that Mulrunji had been walking past
when Patrick Bramwell was being arrested. The two men knew each other. Mulrunji commented
directly to Lloyd Bengaroo, challenging him as to why he should help lock up his own people. The
indication was that Mulrunji was intoxicated. Lloyd advised him to walk down the road or he too
would be locked up. When Senior Sergeant Hurley got back in the car he asked Bengaroo what the
person had said – he clearly had not heard the conversation. When Bengaroo’s account was given,
Hurley’s response was that he would lock him up. The only additional “event� was that having
walked off down Dee Street, Mulrunji turned and swore at the police officers. Senior Sergeant
Hurley then drove down to where Mulrunji was standing and arrested him.”
Bloody Reg has been on this computer again.
That last comment was from me.
My post under Reg’s name has dissappeared?
The missing post was a response to Steve ATP and included the following quote from the coroners report.
All the other cops stayed out of sight while the bashing occured so the other prisoner was the only witness to that, and he did not have a clear view.
A few people saw the actual arrest
from the report
“The arrest of Patrick XXXXXX and Mulrunji
Gladys XXXXXX went inside to retrieve her medication. A young man, Patrick XXXXXX, was
outside the house and clearly intoxicated. He was swearing at the police and his grandmother
complained to the police about his behaviour. Senior Sergeant Hurley arrested him.
Police Liaison Officer Bengaroo told investigating police that Mulrunji had been walking past
when Patrick XXXX was being arrested. The two men knew each other. Mulrunji commented
directly to Lloyd Bengaroo, challenging him as to why he should help lock up his own people. The
indication was that Mulrunji was intoxicated. Lloyd advised him to walk down the road or he too
would be locked up. When Senior Sergeant Hurley got back in the car he asked Bengaroo what the
person had said – he clearly had not heard the conversation. When Bengaroo’s account was given,
Hurley’s response was that he would lock him up. The only additional “event� was that having
walked off down Dee Street, Mulrunji turned and swore at the police officers. Senior Sergeant
Hurley then drove down to where Mulrunji was standing and arrested him.”