Content Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this story contains the images and names of First Nations people who have passed away.
The National Justice Project has slammed the NSW Police Commissioner, Karen Webb, for rejecting a key recommendation from the coronial inquest into the deaths of Mona and Cindy Smith. In her inquest findings, State Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan recommended NSW Police develop guidelines for the review of investigations relating to deaths that are considered by the Attorney-General for fresh or further inquests.
National Justice Project CEO Adjunct Professor George Newhouse said the Coroner sat through many weeks of the inquest and sifted through every piece of evidence to arrive at her findings and recommendations.
“For the Commissioner to now disregard those recommendations in such a cavalier and dismissive way is shameful,” Adjunct Professor Newhouse said.
“Commissioner Webb’s decision conveniently ignores the criticisms made of her predecessor who misled the Attorney-General about the nature and quality of previous investigations. This is nothing short of a vindication of the “perfunctory and piecemeal reviews conducted by police over the years,” which were highlighted by the Coroner in the inquest findings.
“The Commissioner is sadly mistaken to suggest the current NSW police guidelines are at all adequate. These guidelines have failed the Smith family, as well as the Bowraville families and so many other First Nations families for half a century. To suggest otherwise is laughable and perpetuates what many people see as the racist culture of the NSW Police.
The Coroner’s findings quoted a report that “there was a view in the Aboriginal community that there was one law for the blacks and one law for the whites” and that “a white person allegedly forcing Aboriginal children to perform sexual acts was seen as not relevant to the law and order concerns of white citizens. There is evidence that Aboriginal views of social and potentially serious criminal problems in the town were not taken seriously.”
“The Commissioner may choose to ignore this recommendation but we can’t ignore the Coroner’ words:
‘The uncomfortable truth, to my mind, is that had two white teenage girls died in the same circumstances, I cannot conceive of there being such a manifestly deficient police investigation into the circumstances of their deaths.’
“Once again, NSW Police let down the Smith family in an appalling fashion and it needs to change. We will be taking this issue up with the Minister for Police and the NSW Parliament,” Adjunct Professor Newhouse said.
Mona Smith’s sister Fiona said the Police Commissioner’s response did not surprise her family.
“There’s a long-standing history of racism in the NSW Police and it looks like it’s going to continue,” she said.
Media coverage
- Exclusive: NSW Police reject Coroner’s recommendation following “inexplicably” deficient police investigation into deaths of two Indigenous children
National Indigenous Times, 23 October 2024 - Families outraged by ‘disgraceful’ NSW police decision to ignore coroner’s advice
ABC News, 27 October 2024
