News Corp Journalist Offered to Write Defence Article of Zachary Rolfe After He Shot Indigenous Teenager

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name of a person who has died.

Texts seen in court of an exchange between News Corp journalist Kristin Shorten and police officer Zachary Rolfe show Shorten offered “an article in his defence” two days after the former NT Police officer shot and killed Indigenous teenager Kumanjayi Walker.

A coronial inquest into Walker’s death heard on Wednesday that investigative journalist Kristin Shorten, who is a friend of Rolfe’s because her partner is also a police officer, texted Rolfe after the incident in November 2019 asking if he was ok.

Walker, who was 19, died after being shot by Rolfe three times during an arrest attempt in a small community in the Northern Territory. Walker stabbed Rolfe with a pair of scissors before Rolfe shot him.

As there were no medical staff in the community at the time, police provided first aid to Walker. By the time staff from the nearby Yuelamu health centre arrived at the station Walker had died from his injuries. His family were not notified until hours later.

Rolfe was charged with the teenager’s murder but was found not guilty of all charges relating to Walker’s death in March 2022. Rolfe is giving evidence this week to a coronial inquest into the incident under a certificate that protects him from criminal prosecution based on any evidence he gives at the hearings, so long as he answers every question.

The text conversation seen in court, two days after Walker’s death:

Shorten: "Hey mate, heard the news. Hope you and your shoulder are OK. Ignore the leftist reporting in the media. Hopefully catch up soon."
Rolfe: "Hey Kristin. Yeah my shoulder's doing pretty good. All good on my end. I don't pay attention to the losers anyway. Definitely catch up soon."
Shorten: "For sure. Hubby on his way down there today. So glad you're OK. Could've been much worse. I know what you did was totally warranted. If you ever want me to write an article in your defence, with or without naming you, say the word. Otherwise just take care and recover. Let us know when you're up here next. Talk soon"
Rolfe: "100% I already thought about it. If I wanted to put my side out there, I would always come to you. Once this investigation is over we'll get to that"
Shorten: "PS if or when you want, I can write it without naming you or quoting you so it sounds like we never spoke."
Rolfe: "Oi I'm down for that ha ha."
Shorten: "Awesome just let me know when."

Counsel Assisting the Coroner, Peggy Dwyer SC, asked Rolfe "you knew in speaking to Ms Shorten that you had a very sympathetic journalist?" To which he replied, "Yes".

Dwyer then questioned one element of Rolfe’s retelling of events - that Walker had apparently put his hand of Rolfe’s gun, causing Rolfe to fear for his life. She asked why that crucial detail was left out of his police notes and never told to Shorten, who wrote several stories about the incident in the following days.

"It's one of the most serious things that can happen to a police officer isn't it, to lose control of your service weapon?" she asked.
Rolfe agreed.

"I want you to think carefully about this, knowing that you have a certificate that covers you in relation to evidence you gave at the trial," she said.
"I want to suggest to you, Mr Rolfe, that that evidence you gave about Kumanjayi Walker's hand being on your gun was a lie."

Mr Rolfe replied: "It's definitely not".

The inquest, which began in September 2022, was expected to only take three months but has now dragged on for a year and a half as hearings continue.

The inquest has already seen other texts from Rolfe describing Aboriginal people as “coons”, and “neanderthals who drink too much alcohol” months before he shot Walker. Shorten has published interviews in the Australian in which Rolfe defends himself as not racist.

Shorten reportedly no longer works at the Australian. In 2022 she won an NT Media News Award for her reporting on the fatal police shooting of Kumanjayi Walker.

Aleksandra Bliszczyk is the Deputy Editor of VICE Australia. Follow her on Instagram.

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