Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called on the Northern Territory Government to work “respectfully” with Aboriginal communities and First Nations people in major child protection reforms following the alleged murder of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby.
Mr Albanese met with the little girl’s family in Alice Springs on Wednesday as debate rages over the NT’s child protection system and controversial proposed legislative changes introduced into Parliament since her death.
“They’re (the family) going through the worst of devastation, and at this time, they’ve asked that they be allowed to go through the sorry business with the privacy and dignity and solemnity that it deserves,” Mr Albanese told media.
The Prime Minister met with Kumanjayi Little Baby’s mother Jacinta White, maternal grandmother Karen White and paternal grandfather Robin Granites during a visit that was kept largely private at the family’s request.
“It was mainly an opportunity just to say to the family, though, that the nation stands with them,” Mr Albanese said.
“They are not alone. This is a young person lost far too early under circumstances that are unbearable.
“They are trying to bear their way through this with dignity, with respect, and it is . . . It will remain something that is with them forever.”
The Prime Minister said the little girl’s family had been comforted by the support shown by the Alice Springs community and Australians more broadly.
“They’re proud of their much-loved daughter and granddaughter, of who she was, but also that sense of regret that she won’t get to be the young woman and woman that she should have become,” he said.
“It was important to be able to say to the family that the nation stands with them in their grief … we’ll give them every support that they need.”
Mr Albanese visited Old Timers Camp, where the little girl was allegedly taken from late last month, laying flowers at a memorial that has sprung up there.
“People leaving messages, people knitting toys in tribute to this wonderful, much loved little girl,” he said.
Kumanjayi Little Baby, as she is now referred to for cultural reasons, vanished from Old Timers Camp on the outskirts of Alice Springs on April 25.
Her disappearance sparked a massive police and community search before her body was found 5km away, near the dry Todd River bed, five days later.
Jefferson Lewis, 47, has since been charged with her murder and other offences that cannot be published for legal reasons.
Mr Albanese was joined in Alice Springs by Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy and Special Envoy for Remote Communities and Member for Lingiari Marion Scrymgour.
Following the private family meeting, he attended an afternoon tea with representatives from Tangentyere Council, Alice Springs Town Council, Central Land Council, Alice Springs Hospital, Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Purple House, NT Police and St John Ambulance.
The visit comes amid escalating political and community debate over child protection failures, town camp conditions and sweeping child protection reforms.
The Territory Government has announced an independent investigation into the handling of Kumanjayi Little Baby’s case, to be led by former NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb and former NT Department of Attorney-General and Justice chief executive Greg Shanahan.
It has also introduced major changes to child protection laws that would prioritise child safety above all other considerations.
The proposed reforms have sparked criticism from Aboriginal organisations and children’s commissioners, who argue the changes are being rushed through without adequate consultation and risk weakening the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle.
Asked whether he supported the NT Government’s response, Mr Albanese repeatedly stressed the need for consultation.
“We’ll work constructively with the Northern Territory Government, but they also need to work respectfully with the local community, with the family, and need to make sure they involve First Nations people as well in this local community to work through these issues in the most constructive way possible,” he said.
Asked specifically about criticism from Aboriginal groups who say they have not been consulted on the changes, the Prime Minister said Indigenous communities “need to be treated with respect at this time”.
“Every child has the right to be safe and to enjoy a quality of life free from danger, and that is what we want to see right across the board,” he said.
“I would say to all involved that they need to make sure that they work together.
“This is a time where what I want to see is the different levels of government coming together with the community in the same way that the community has come together itself.”
Mr Albanese also pointed to long-running concerns about living conditions in town camps and remote communities, while noting responsibility for Alice Springs town camps sits with the Territory Government.
“Clearly, the Northern Territory Government have had responsibility since 2012 for the town camps,” he said.
“Clearly, there’s a need to do better, to make sure that the living conditions are improved.”
The Prime Minister said all levels of government needed to “do much better” when it came to remote housing and community conditions.
“When it comes to housing, we are building more remote housing,” he said.
“When it comes to the issues that were raised with me about Yuendumu and about other communities and as well the town camps, clearly there’s a need to do better.”
This comes after NT Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price last week delivered an emotional plea following the alleged murder of her five-year-old niece, begging the Government to demonstrate “courage” and “put our children first”.
Fighting back tears, Senator Price told the Senate the death of Kumanjayi Little Baby – her niece – had exposed longstanding dysfunction, violence and neglect in town camps and remote communities.
“My niece’s life was taken senselessly, selfishly and horrifically,” she said.
“And the hardest truth of all is that for many in my hometown, none of this came as a surprise.
“But the truth is that people do not want to speak this out loud.”
Senator Price said “for too long” there had been silence around what was happening in town camps and remote communities.
“A silence driven by fear, a fear of causing offence, a fear of being labelled racist, fear of speaking honestly about dysfunction, violence, alcohol abuse, neglect and conditions vulnerable children are growing up in,” she said.
“That silence is killing our babies.”
Meanwhile, Kumanjayi Little Baby’s mother has shared a heartbreaking tribute describing her daughter as a joyful little girl who loved Bluey, Minecraft and K-pop music.
The statement, republished by The Nightly with permission, offered a rare glimpse into the five-year-old’s short life and the grief now engulfing her family.
“Kumanjayi Little Baby loved cuddling puppies,” her mother wrote.
“She loved playing games on my phone.
“She loved watching Bluey, and Masha and the Bear.”
The little girl also loved listening to Rosé and Bruno Mars’ APT, the song Golden from K-Pop Demon Hunters, and “playing Minecraft with her big brother”.
“When she was a little baby she would smile when she watched CoComelon,” the statement said.
“She was my little princess.
“My princess who loved the colour pink.”
The grieving mother said her “heart is broken into a million pieces” and she was struggling to comprehend life without her daughter.
Lewis, who remains in custody in Darwin, will face a second mention in the Alice Springs Local Court on July 30.
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