The father of Zachary Rolfe, the former NT police officer who shot and killed Warlpiri man Kumanjayi Walker, has told a federal government inquiry that more must be done to weed racists from the ranks.<\/p>\n
Former constable Rolfe shot and killed Walker while trying to arrest him on 9 November 2019 in Yuendumu, about 300km from Alice Springs.<\/p>\n
Walker, 19, stabbed Rolfe with a pair of scissors shortly before he was shot by the then constable. Rolfe was found not guilty in March 2022 of charges of murder and manslaughter relating to Walker\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
He has since been dismissed from the force for matters not directly related to the shooting.<\/p>\n
In a submission to the inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, his father, Richard Rolfe, said that he wished to \u201ccontribute my knowledge about widespread racist behaviour within the NT police force\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said this behaviour \u201chas not only contributed to and increased trauma for First Nations people, but \u2026 been condoned as acceptable behaviour by the current CLP government in the NT\u201d.<\/p>\n
The submission takes in the evidence provided by his son during an inquest into Walker\u2019s death, in which it was revealed that the NT\u2019s highly trained tactical response group held annual events featuring racist awards.<\/p>\n
But it does not mention the racist text messages shared by Rolfe with his colleagues, nor the findings of the coroner Elisabeth Armitage about Walker\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Rolfe was racist, and he worked in and benefited from an organisation with the hallmarks of institutional racism,\u201d Armitage said in her findings delivered in July 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile it was not possible for me to say with certainty that Mr Rolfe\u2019s racist attitudes were operative in his decisions on 9 November or were a contributing cause of Kumanjayi\u2019s death, I cannot exclude that possibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat I cannot exclude that possibility is a tragedy for Kumanjayi\u2019s family and community, who will always believe that racism played an integral part in his death and is a taint that may stain the NT police.\u201d<\/p>\n
Armitage also said it was important that NT police did not consider the former constable to be \u201cone bad apple\u201d. She described the awards as \u201camong the most grotesque examples of racism uncovered during the Inquest\u201d.<\/p>\n
In his submission, Richard included copies of the awards, including several that do not appear to have been included into evidence during the inquest.<\/p>\n