Racist texts, cover-up allegations: Kumanjayi Walker inquest poses big questions for police

The messages have raised questions about what the NT police force will do in response.

The texts were exchanged among officers between April and September in 2019. Walker died in November. Rolfe was found not guilty of murder and two alternative charges after a six-week trial in the NT supreme court in Darwin earlier this year. A three-month inquest, which had to wait for the trial to conclude, has just completed week two. There were opening remarks and statements by elders but the matter was paused when lawyers representing Rolfe and the NT Police Association sought to challenge the scope of issues the coroner would investigate.

At one point, agitated shouting could be heard outside the courtroom and the coroner prepared to halt the matter but it abated, and Dwyer read on. Thirteen texts in all.

The inquest continues in Alice Springs on Monday.