'Something is rotten in the state of Queensland'

In the yard there was an altercation between Mulrunji and Hurley and Hurley claims he fell on the step at the entrance to the cells. The other prisoner, Patrick Bramwell who was in the watch house at the time gave evidence that Hurley seriously assaulted Mulrunji. An hour later Mulrunji was dead - his spleen ruptured, four ribs broken and his liver split almost into two parts.

Seven days later, following a community meeting at which the crowd was given details of the first autopsy, unrest broke out and there was a disturbance. The police station, court house and some police accommodation was burnt down. Heavily armed riot squads were subsequently flown to Palm Island and suppressed, at gun point, the population including grandmothers and children. The police did not wear any identifying insignia.

After an aborted inquest, a second inquest was conducted by Deputy State Coroner Christine Clements: she found that the arrest of Mulrunji was not an appropriate exercise of police discretion; she did not believe that Hurley’s account of events to be truthful; she believed that Hurley had struck Mulrunji while he was still on the floor; and went on to say “I conclude that these actions of Senior sergeant Hurley caused the fatal injuries”.

Coroner Clements referred the case to Director of Public Prosecutions, who declined to prosecute, but after a public outcry and further judicial inquires Senior Sergeant Hurley was sent to trial in Townsville. On June 20, 2007 he was acquitted by the all white jury: a fairly likely result for a man whose actions had been investigated by his mates. And by then Patrick Bramwell was dead, having been found hanging in a tree some six months earlier.

On October 24, 2008, Palm Islander, Lex Wooton, was found by an all white jury in Brisbane guilty of “riot with destruction”: he was remanded in custody in Townsville to be sentenced in November. The maximum penalty he faces is life in prison.

Not satisfied with gaining the conviction of another Palm Islander who opposed police, the Police Union demanded that the Parliamentary Speaker, Mike Reynolds, whose electorate is in Townsville, apologise to the police for supporting “the rioters”. Reynolds in return accused the Union of “political thuggery” and of “continuing a vendetta against him” (ABC News 2008).

There is a long trail of similarities from the murders of the Arrernte by Constable Willshire in Central Australia in the 19th century (SBS TV) to current police killings and their subsequent cover-ups. But there is little to match the arrogance of the present Queensland police service. Three days after Lex Wooton was remanded in custody, the Police Commissioner announced that 22 police would receive bravery medals for their actions on Palm Island following the killing of Mulrunji.

In Queensland, for as long as Lex Wooton is in jail and Inspector Chris Hurley walks free, and the Queensland Police Union continues to intimidate politicians, there are serious problems for the justice system. There is a need for a further Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody paying particular attention to:

• the deaths of Mulrunji on Palm Island and Daniel Yock in South Brisbane;
• the behaviour of the riot squad on Palm Island following the burning down of the police station;
• a thorough investigation of the intimidation of witnesses who give evidence not appreciated by police; and
• an investigation of the intimidation of politicians and others by members of the police union.

I don’t know how this will be achieved, short of some decent police officers becoming whistle blowers. However, if the Royal Commissioners were able to investigate the widespread perjuring conducted by police in Queensland, then they might finally get to understand the underlying reasons for the high number of deaths in custody.