Head of inquiry into child abuse in Australian detention centre steps down due to lack of support
Aboriginal leaders had said they would not cooperate with the inquiry unless they were represented on the commission
The head of an Australian inquiry into the abuse of children in detention resigned on Monday, four days after being appointed to investigate prison video of aboriginal boys being abused, citing his lack of support from the country’s indigenous leaders.
The Royal Commission will now be conducted by two commissioners, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda and retired Supreme Court judge Margaret White, Attorneys General George Brandis said on Monday.
Aboriginal leaders had said they would not cooperate with the inquiry unless they were represented on the commission and were unhappy that the inquiry was not national.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull ordered the probe last week, after prison CCTV footage showed guards tear-gassing six aboriginal teenage inmates and strapping a half-naked, hooded boy to a chair at a Darwin youth prison in the Northern Territory.
The footage sparked renewed criticism of Australia’s treatment of Aborigines and their high imprisonment rate.