Commemoration of Death of T. J. Hickey

Redfern Town Hall

On behalf of the Greens thankyou for the invitation to speak tonight.

I would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional owners, of the land on which we meet.

On behalf of the Greens I wish to extend our sympathy to the family and friends of T J  Hickey.

In February last year something very ugly went down just a few blocks from here. We don't know the full story. But we do know that T J Hickey is dead, that there was some level of police involvement, there may have been a cover-up of police involvement and that the government has not given the support and assistance to TJ's family that it should have.

The handling of this incident by the NSW govt authorities is another shameful act in a shared history that continues to be dominated by harassment and exploitation of the indigenous people of this country.

When T J died Premier Bob Carr should have provided Redfern's Aboriginal community with support.

Instead we saw him taking the side of the police. Now I am not expecting the premier to come out against the police - I think he should when they do the wrong thing but we know he wont. But at least he could have been even handed.

But there was no support, no visits to Redfern no discussions with the community about how to go forward.

From Mr Carr all we heard was rhetoric about how he had full confidence in the police and from Mr Refshauge, the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, there was silence.

On behalf of the Greens in the week after TJ's death I warned that Mr Carr and his Ministers needed to ensure that they did not influence the outcome of the three inquiries that were initiated.

In those days immediately following TJ's death the govt was totally behind the police, while the Redfern Aboriginal community was portrayed as the enemy, the criminal, the no-gooders.

So the inquiries were set up. Yes there were problems with the inquiries but without our collective demand TJ's death would have been quickly and conveniently forgotten by the authorities.

Now we need to raise our voices again as a new coronial inquest is needed into TJ's death - there is new evidence from two Aboriginal Liaison officers and the unwillingness of Constable Hollingsworth to give evidence is further grounds.

Two Aboriginal Liaison officers attached to the Redfern police station gave damming evidence to the NSW Parl inquiry. I understand that for some reason these two witnesses were available but not called in the coronial inquiry.

The two Aboriginal Liaison officers testified in the NSW Parliament that police had rammed TJ Hickey during the police chase that led to his death.

I have been given legal advice that strongly argues that their testimony is new evidence and this provides the grounds for a new coronial inquiry.

The other key development that underlines the need for a fresh inquiry is the case of Constable Hollingsworth.

If people wonder why anger around this case is still so strong just consider that after weeks of hearing from senior police that none of their officers had any involvement in this tragic death we find out the key police officer present when TJ dies wont give evidence.

I believe that Constable Hollingsworth has a statutory duty to behave professionally and ethically, and that he and his superiors have failed in this duty.

Legal advice I have been given, strongly argues that Constable Hollingsworth clearly should have been required to give evidence to the inquiry.

We know that Hollingsworth claimed that he could have been liable to a civil penalty under police regulations, and that Coroner Abernethy upheld constable Hollingsworth's claims.

I understand that the coroner could have given the constable a certificate under S33aa (2) of the Coroners Act that would have allowed him to give evidence while providing him with protection from his evidence being used in any future civil proceedings.

Lawyers who have examined this case believe this error would have provided grounds for an appeal to the Supreme Court.

But what are we left with - no appeal to the Supreme Court, a police officer with critical information refusing to answer questions, and govt ministers that are either hostile or silent.

How can our society have any confidence in police who refuse to answer questions that would allow a death to be fully investigated in a coronial inquest?

In October I wrote to the Attorney General, Bob Debus, asking him to re-open the coronial inquiry into the death of Thomas 'TJ' Hickey and to pay for an independent legal team for the Hickey family. Two months later he replied refusing to take such action.

Last October I also wrote to the NSW Minister for Police to find out what investigations are being made into the allegations that police applied pressure to the Aboriginal Liaison officers not to speak out. I still have not received a reply to that letter.

Relations between Police and the Redfern community cannot improve until a new inquiry is initiated. The need for such an inquiry is clear. There is the disturbing information from the Aboriginal Liaison Officers. There is the silence of Constable Hollingsworth.

The Greens support the Indigenous Social Justice Association in their call for the re-opening of the coronial inquest to examine the recent claims made by the Police Aboriginal Liaison officers from Redfern. We further support the call for the Attorney General to provide the Hickey family with independent legal representation.

A new coronial inquiry must be held. The Hickey family has suffered the death of their son, and are now faced with unanswered questions about police collusion and police pressure to stop the Aboriginal Liaison officers from testifying. This will only end if there is an inquiry.

T. J. Hickey should be alive today - having fun, hanging out with his mates, going out with his girlfriend, enjoying time with his mum and all his relatives, planning for his future.

But the legal and political system has again failed indigenous Australians. Our anger is more than understandable in the face of the lack of action.

But we know that govt's can be embarrassed. People can win. We need to work closely together, focus our anger and get this inquiry up.

I would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional owners, of the land on which we meet.

On behalf of the Greens I wish to extend our sympathy to the family and friends of t j hickey.

In February last year something very ugly went down just a few blocks from here. We don't know the full story. But we do know that t j hickey is dead, that there was some level of police involvement, there may have been a cover-up of police involvement and that the government has not given the support and assistance to TJ's family that it should have.

The handling of this incident by the NSW govt authorities is another shameful act in a shared history that continues to be dominated by harassment and exploitation of the indigenous people of this country.

When T J died Premier Bob Carr should have provided Redfern's Aboriginal community with support.

Instead we saw him taking the side of the police. Now I am not expecting the premier to come out against the police - I think he should when they do the wrong thing but we know he wont. But at least he could have been even handed.

But there was no support, no visits to Redfern no discussions with the community about how to go forward.

From Mr Carr all we heard was rhetoric about how he had full confidence in the police and from Mr Refshauge, the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, there was silence.

On behalf of the Greens in the week after TJ's death I warned that Mr Carr and his Ministers needed to ensure that they did not influence the outcome of the three inquiries that were initiated.

In those days immediately following TJ's death the govt was totally behind the police, while the Redfern Aboriginal community was portrayed as the enemy, the criminal, the no-gooders.

So the inquiries were set up. Yes there were problems with the inquiries but without our collective demand TJ's death would have been quickly and conveniently forgotten by the authorities.

Now we need to raise our voices again as a new coronial inquest is needed into TJ's death - there is new evidence from two Aboriginal Liaison officers and the unwillingness of Constable Hollingsworth to give evidence is further grounds.

Two Aboriginal Liaison officers attached to the Redfern police station gave damming evidence to the NSW Parl inquiry. I understand that for some reason these two witnesses were available but not called in the coronial inquiry.

The two Aboriginal Liaison officers testified in the NSW Parliament that police had rammed TJ Hickey during the police chase that led to his death.

I have been given legal advice that strongly argues that their testimony is new evidence and this provides the grounds for a new coronial inquiry.

The other key development that underlines the need for a fresh inquiry is the case of Constable Hollingsworth.

If people wonder why anger around this case is still so strong just consider that after weeks of hearing from senior police that none of their officers had any involvement in this tragic death we find out the key police officer present when TJ dies wont give evidence.

I believe that Constable Hollingsworth has a statutory duty to behave professionally and ethically, and that he and his superiors have failed in this duty.

Legal advice I have been given, strongly argues that Constable Hollingsworth clearly should have been required to give evidence to the inquiry.

We know that Hollingsworth claimed that he could have been liable to a civil penalty under police regulations, and that Coroner Abernethy upheld constable Hollingsworth's claims.

I understand that the coroner could have given the constable a certificate under S33aa (2) of the Coroners Act that would have allowed him to give evidence while providing him with protection from his evidence being used in any future civil proceedings.

Lawyers who have examined this case believe this error would have provided grounds for an appeal to the Supreme Court.

But what are we left with - no appeal to the Supreme Court, a police officer with critical information refusing to answer questions, and govt ministers that are either hostile or silent.

How can our society have any confidence in police who refuse to answer questions that would allow a death to be fully investigated in a coronial inquest?

In October I wrote to the Attorney General, Bob Debus, asking him to re-open the coronial inquiry into the death of Thomas 'TJ' Hickey and to pay for an independent legal team for the Hickey family. Two months later he replied refusing to take such action.

Last October I also wrote to the NSW Minister for Police to find out what investigations are being made into the allegations that police applied pressure to the Aboriginal Liaison officers not to speak out. I still have not received a reply to that letter.

Relations between Police and the Redfern community cannot improve until a new inquiry is initiated. The need for such an inquiry is clear. There is the disturbing information from the Aboriginal Liaison Officers. There is the silence of Constable Hollingsworth.

The Greens support the Indigenous Social Justice Association in their call for the re-opening of the coronial inquest to examine the recent claims made by the Police Aboriginal Liaison officers from Redfern. We further support the call for the Attorney General to provide the Hickey family with independent legal representation.

A new coronial inquiry must be held. The Hickey family has suffered the death of their son, and are now faced with unanswered questions about police collusion and police pressure to stop the Aboriginal Liaison officers from testifying. This will only end if there is an inquiry.

T. J. Hickey should be alive today - having fun, hanging out with his mates, going out with his girlfriend, enjoying time with his mum and all his relatives, planning for his future.

But the legal and political system has again failed indigenous Australians. Our anger is more than understandable in the face of the lack of action.

But we know that govt's can be embarrassed. People can win. We need to work closely together, focus our anger and get this inquiry up.