The sacking of a constable who shot dead an Indigenous man has brought a “glimpse of change” and hope for accountability to his family.
Zachary Rolfe shot Kumanjayi Walker, 19, three times in the remote community of Yuendumu, northwest of Alice Springs in November 2019.
On Tuesday, NT Police confirmed it had sacked Mr Rolfe over a breach of discipline.
Mr Walker’s cousin Samara Fernandez‐Brown was at a friend’s place when she heard Mr Rolfe had been sacked.
“I cried,” she said.
“It was so emotional.”
Though she expressed disappointment the dismissal had come from a breach of discipline and not Mr Rolfe’s conduct, Ms Fernandez-Brown said she hoped it would be the first step towards accountability.
“The violence that tragically killed one of our family members has also caused great harm towards our community because it has made us feel scared and unsafe,” she said.
“It has shocked us that (Rolfe) had continued to be a serving officer. Where has the accountability been? Where was the intent to protect us?
“The only way you can really survive in the grief of things is to be optimistic and hope that there is going to be a change. This is the first real glimpse that there can be change.”
Mr Rolfe was found not guilty of murdering Mr Walker in a high-profile, five-week trial in 2022.
He later became the subject of a wide-ranging coronial inquest into Mr Walker’s death, which was told Mr Rolfe had previously been issued with a notice of the intention to stand him down from duty.
Mr Rolfe’s lawyer Luke Officer confirmed on Wednesday his client would appeal the decision to dismiss him.
“Constable Rolfe’s intention is to … exercise the full legal options available to him challenging the validity of the decision, the failure to afford fairness and the process by which it was made, the lawfulness of the decision, and also the merits of the decision,” he said.
A NT Police spokeswoman on Tuesday said Mr Rolfe had been sacked “due to serious breaches of discipline during their policing career”.
The NT police union, which had previously funded Mr Rolfe’s legal fees, criticised the force’s decision.
“The impact that the 9th of November 2019 has had on him, and many involved, has been difficult to fathom,” NT Police Association president Paul McCue said.
“To be dismissed by the NT Police Force in these circumstances, once again, highlights deficiencies in police disciplinary processes.”
Mr Rolfe has been on personal leave since August 2022.
He left Australia in February after writing a 2500-word open letter defending his character and criticising NT Police and its commissioner for how they handled the inquest.
In March, NT Police Assistant Commissioner Bruce Porte told the coronial inquest that police had served Mr Rolfe with a notice relating to the letter.
He also mentioned the force’s intent to retire Mr Rolfe based on psychological and risk assessments.
The inquest resumes later this year when Mr Rolfe is scheduled to give evidence, pending the outcome of his appeal against an earlier Supreme Court decision that he could be compelled to take the stand.
