Kumanjayi Walker inquest: NT police commissioner knew about racist awards last year, court told

Michael Murphy denies deliberately misleading public about knowledge of awards but regrets not investigating earlier, inquest hears

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The Northern Territory's top police officer has agreed he was gaslighting" Aboriginal people when he said he had not seen racism in the force, and admitted he knew about racist award certificates months before their existence was made public.

The police commissioner, Michael Murphy, told the inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker on Wednesday that he regretted not investigating the coon of the year" certificates awarded within the force's Territory Response Group or reporting them to the NT police professional standards command when he learned about them in August 2023.