Family lawyer decries double standard in handling of MP assault versus Aboriginal death

George Newhouse, representing the relatives of Kumanjayi White, criticised the Northern Territory Director of Public Prosecutions for sending the assault case against Labor MP Luke Gosling to the Commonwealth DPP while retaining the investigation of White’s 2025 death within NT agencies, labeling the contrast a “stark double standard.” White, a 24-year-old Walpiri man with disabilities, died after two police officers restrained him in an Alice Springs supermarket, and his family has repeatedly asked for an independent probe, which police have refused.

After nearly a year, the NT DPP announced no charges would be laid and the family sued in the NT Supreme Court to discover which body made that decision. The court will hear a mention of the case tomorrow, aiming to identify the decision-maker and obtain the rationale. The DPP office says it sought an interstate use-of-force report and external legal advice before concluding that prosecution was unlikely. Newhouse argues the family has received no substantive reasons, feels kept in the dark, and seeks accountability, transparency and a process comparable to that afforded to the MP.