Death of Mr Eddie Murray Inquiry
Page: 6542
Ms LEE RHIANNON [6.57 p.m.]: In 1981, Eddie Murray, a 21-year-old Aboriginal man from Wee Waa in New South Wales, was detained for being drunk and disorderly. The police could have taken him home, but instead kept him in custody. He was heard to cry out from his cell, "Why do you always pick on me? Why don't you pick on the white people?" Less than one hour later, he was dead. Before a police photographer arrived to take pictures of Eddie, his body had been removed from the cell in which he died. The next day, his clothes were missing. When the Coroner looked into the matter, he found instances of unreliability in the evidence offered by police to the court. The Coroner returned an open verdict, stating "Death at the hand of person or persons unknown".
The Murray family pushed for a further investigation into Eddie's death. They were at the forefront of the call for a royal commission of inquiry into Aboriginal deaths in custody. When the royal commission inquired into Eddie's death, more examples of police inconsistencies were exposed. The New South Wales Attorney General at that time, Terry Sheahan, promised the Murray family that the New South Wales Government would fully investigate any new evidence in the case. In 1997 Eddie's body was exhumed and it was found that he had suffered a fractured breastbone, which was probably caused by one or more blows to his chest. In August 2000 the then Minister for Police, Paul Whelan, referred the case to the New South Wales Police Integrity Commission [PIC]. He said that if the Police Integrity Commission declined the case, it was "not the end of the road".
The Police Integrity Commission conducted what it termed a preliminary investigation into Eddie's case that took almost as long as the duration of the entire Royal Commission of Inquiry into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, which examined a total of 99 deaths. Within three years the Police Integrity Commission [PIC] examined only nine documents, procured only four more documents, and spoke to 11 people. At the conclusion of this period, the PIC did not offer the New South Wales Parliament a report into its so-called investigation. Using its secrecy provisions, it instead offered a limited account of its activities to the Murray family's legal advisers.
The DEPUTY-PRESIDENT (The Hon. Amanda Fazio): Order! Members should cease their conversations or leave the Chamber.
Ms LEE RHIANNON: The Murray family does not feel that justice has been done. They want to know which police officer assisted the ambulance driver to remove Eddie's body before the police photographer arrived. They want to know why some police evidence contradicts the evidence of other police officers and civilian witnesses. They want to know why the PIC did not obtain evidence by covert means when it recognised that that was the most likely way of uncovering new evidence. They want to know why public hearings into the matter were not held so that evidence could be offered under oath and so that their own legal team could contribute its expertise to the inquiry.
During the PIC's preliminary investigation, Eddie's mother, Leila, died. Eddie's father, Arthur Murray, has vowed to continue to seek justice in his son's case. As a result of the failures of the PIC investigation, the Murray family does not feel that the New South Wales Government has kept its promise to them—that Eddie's death would be fully investigated. One of the complaints voiced by those who participated in civil disobedience that occurred recently in Redfern is that Aboriginal people feel that there is no justice for their community, particularly in the matter of deaths in custody. For over 22 years, the Murray family has followed due process in the matter of their son's death. Eddie's body was exhumed, at great emotional cost. The Murray family has done the right thing. The New South Wales Government twice gave its word that it would thoroughly examine the case, yet fundamental questions regarding Eddie Murray's death remain unanswered.
When will the New South Wales Government live up to its side of the bargain? I have pursued this matter in Parliament through a detailed set of questions upon notice directed to the Minister for Police. Those questions are available publicly under "Questions & Answers" in the Legislative Council section of the New South Wales Parliament's web site at www.parliament.nsw.gov.au. I call on the Minister for Police to stop avoiding the issue and to provide full and frank answers to these questions. And I urge the Attorney General to begin a full and frank inquiry into the death of Eddie Murray. We have a responsibility to act.