‘We do not feel safe’: Kumanjayi White’s grandfather on the danger of the NT police
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What happened to Kumanjayi White and why is it significant?
I'm Ruby Jones and you're listening to 7am.
One year ago this week, 24-year-old Walpuree man Kumanjai White died after being restrained by police inside a supermarket in Alice Springs. This week, his family were told the officers involved will not face charges. The coronial investigation is still underway with another directions hearing expected next month. When we spoke to Kumanjai White's grandfather, Ned Jampanchipa Hargraves, last year, he had already spent years calling for accountability after the death of another young Walpuree man, Kumanjai Walker, who was killed in Yundamu in 2019. For Jampanchipa Hargraves, the deaths of Kumanjai Walker and Kumanjai White are part of the same crisis. Aboriginal people living under a system that does not make them safe.
Today, Daniel James speaks to Jeff and Jebba Hargraves on life under the watch of the police, the pressure of systems that were never made to protect his people, and what real safety would look like. It's Sunday, May 31. This episode originally aired in August 2025.
Champajimba, thank you for speaking with me on 7am. To start with, could you please tell us a little bit about yourself?
Yeah, look, my name is Ned Hargraves, Champajimba. I'm a Waltree man, I'm a spokesman, as well as I'm a community leader of my people, my community, and I live west of Alice Springs.
In May this year, your grandson, Kumanjaya White, died in police custody. Yes. 24-year-old Kumanjai White was a young Indigenous man with a disability. Police say he was seen putting shopping items down the front of his clothing when he was confronted and restrained by police. Many at this rally say the actions... What has been the impact on you and your community?
Well, the community, as well as my family, we have been devastated because... My jaja, my grandson, was only 24, a young person. He was just getting to know the world. So we have been disrespected. Yapa people, Yapa nation, Yapa First Nation people, We are human beings and we want to be treated as human beings. So any police can kill any black fellas and forget about what they did and walk away, pretend that nothing happened. It's not acceptable. You've got hundreds and hundreds of our mob, our young people, men, young women, in prison behind bars.
How does Kumanjayi White's death relate to previous incidents?
So why is it this person behind bars? Why are you so special about this bloke?
Like you said, your grandson, Kunjaya White, was 24 when he died in police custody. What can you tell us about your grandson?
Well, he was a happy person, always active, wanted to go to places, see places, and be with the family, mingle with countrymen, look around, and, you know, he wanted to do something. But he was strangled because of one thing, one little small thing. And his life was taken just for a coke. A bottle of coke.
It's been 25 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody. In that time, at least 605 First Nations people have died in custody, with 20 deaths this year alone, according to the government's own figures. Despite Tyler's calls from the community for change, the issue is getting worse, with the numbers of men, women and children dying in custody only increasing. When his grandson died, Jumpin' Jibba had been waiting for the coronial findings and the death of Kumanjaya Walker, a Waltbury teenager who was killed six years ago by Northern Territory Police Officer Zachary Rolfe. A jury with no First Nations people on it acquitted Rolfe of murder. Just over a month ago, the coronial report investigating Walker's death was finally handed down.
It confirmed what his community has said all along, that Zachary Rolfe was racist and that his actions were enabled by the culture within the Northern Territory Police. Having considered all the evidence, including Mr Rolfe's explanations and justifications, I found that Mr Rolfe was racist and that he worked in and was the beneficiary of an organisation with hallmarks of institutional racism. Could you tell me about the day those findings were handed down into the death of Kilimanjaro Walker?
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