2021-07-20
“Aboriginal people are dying from preventable deaths in police custody because the Morrison government is continuing Liberal and Labors’ legacies of inaction,” said Senator Lidia Thorpe, a Gunnai and Gunditjmara woman who is the Australian Greens’ First Nations and Justice spokesperson.
“It’s been 30 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the Morrison government has failed to show leadership and implement all 339 recommendations. What’s the point of a Commission if you ignore its findings?”
As a matter of national urgency, The Greens are calling for the full implementation of the Royal Commission’s recommendations, a ban on lethal chokeholds, greater transparency around the reporting of deaths in custody and a culturally safe, properly resourced independent prison oversight system.
“This is a matter of life and death, why should our people keep dying in places where they’re meant to be kept safe?” said Senator Thorpe.
Due to our community protocol, we will not comment on the recent death unless permitted to do so from family.