Australia is accommodating change, so why is there exemptions for our

Indigenous Australian People and the Law Assessment Question: With reference to either the Redfern (Feb 04), Palm Island (Nov 04) or Aurukun (Jan 07) riots, what are some of the influences upon contemporary relations between police/ policing and Indigenous people and their communities? Is it a changing culture? Abstract Bramwell an indigenous person had assaulted three women, following the incident one of the women asked Senior Sergeant Hurley and Police Liason Officer (PLO) Bengaroo to collect an item from Dee Street where the offender resides, upon arrival to the reside was an young indigenous relative was believed to be violent and intoxicated, following a complaint from another member residing there Police arrested with drunkness. Whilst directing him to the van, Mulrunji was walking down the street and said to PLO Bengaroo ?you shouldn?t be locking him up, you?re a blackfella yourself, you shouldn?t be locking up black people?, Bengaroo advised Mulrunji to keep walking which he did otherwise consequences would apply. When Hurley later returned to the vehicle (as he wasn?t with PLO Bengaroo at the time) he questioned PLO Bengaroo what happened, after explaining the incident Hurley exonerated discretion to arrest Mulrunji for a public nuisance offence; Mulrunji, was later located further down the street and arrested. Upon arrival at the police station, when discharging two offenders from the van to the cell, Mulrunji apparently threw a punch to Hurley?s jaw. As testified by a witness, Hurley then punched him back in his ribs or on the side, Mulrunji and Hurley fell on the steps with Hurley landing on top of Mulrunji according to a witness, however, Hurley testified he landed on the left side of Mulrunji. A witness believes they heard Mulrunji sing after being dragged inside by officers. In the coroner report, from Hurley he states that he walked into the cell for the first check to complete a welfare check, argued by Hurley saw both men in their cell and snoring, when in fact Clements found that no officer remained in the cell for more than a couple of seconds. Later, when Sergeant Leafe completed a check he approached by Hurley?s office with a problem as he could not locate a pulse on Mulrunji, to which Hurley supposedly called an ambulance immediately, although in the mean time there was no att empts to resuscitate Mulrunji. Whilst Mulrunji was in custody his family approached the station and was told to return later, when in fact Mulrunji was believed to be dead at the time. Although, fellow offender Bramwell states that Mulrunji while in the cell was calling for help which was ignored by Police, so Bramwell tries to comfort him. Introduction The highly tensions relationship between Queensland Police and Aboriginal people is evident in the statistics ? since 1980 nearly 300 indigenous people have died in custody in prison cells or police lockups. The death of Mulrunji Doomagee in a Palm Island police cell sparked a riot fuelled by a historically brutal police culture and white politics of a punitive kind. This essay will firstly discuss the police and aboriginal relations historically and the present in order to establish the historical culture and if this has changed contemporaneously. Secondly, it will explore and discuss whether changes within the police institution due to the recognition of the tensions historical relationship, resulting from the Royal Commission in to Aboriginal deaths in custody (The royal Commission), has changed the brotherhood mentality which is tainted with whiteness and an underlying violent and racist culture toward indigenous people. Overall, the paper will argue, that the Palm Island riot w as a direct result of the historical relationship and subsequent violent and racist culture which police have adopted in policing indigenous communities and people. Historical Context of the police culture ?to set it up what it is contemporaneously Early forms of police acted as tenets of ?survival? - exercising compulsion to obtain full possession of the land. Therefore, dispersing Indigenous people has led to many socio-cultural conflicts which are still faced presently . The relationship Aboriginals had with the land was strong spiritually, physically and emotionally . Thus when the Europeans came into Australia and impertinently applied Terra Nullius and English law, the Aboriginals defended and resisted European contact. Hence, it