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Bush elder 'killed by incompetence'

Debbie Guest | Article from: The Australian

21 March 2009- HE called himself a "professor of the bush"; others described him as an Aboriginal man who walked both worlds.

A fierce protector of his culture in the Ngaanyatjarra homelands near Warburton, 1540km northeast of Perth, "Ribs" Ward, as he was affectionately known, was one of the last nomads born in the Gibson Desert. He was also one of the most Westernised, equally respected by his own people and the white fellas.

He travelled across Australia and the world representing his people, educating everyone from Chinese politicians to children about his unique way of life.

But to the two security guards responsible for his welfare on January 27 last year, Ward -- his family does not want his first name published for cultural reasons -- was just another prisoner who had to be driven from the police lock-up at Laverton to the Goldfields Regional Prison in Kalgoorlie, 360km away.

In the back of the clapped-out Corrective Services van on a day with temperatures soaring to 42C and with no working air-conditioner to control the heat, Ward effectively cooked to death during the 3 1/2-hour journey. His organs were unable to cope in the 50C heat inside the van.

Ward was no doubt dehydrated after drinking heavily the night before. Having said goodbye to wife Nancy and their three youngest sons, he got in a car with his oldest son, Tyrone, and a friend and drove to Laverton.

They had stopped and hunted and cooked their catch of kangaroo and turkey when they arrived in the outback town on Friday evening.

The next day, Australia Day, Ward drank heavily, as he usually did when away, because his home at Warburton was a dry community. Full of booze and already on a suspended sentence for another driving offence, he was stopped by police as part of a random traffic check and arrested for drink-driving after he blew 0.22. He was put in the Laverton lock-up for the night. Drunk and tired, Ward said he just wanted to sleep when asked if he wanted a lawyer, police say. The Aboriginal Legal Service was not called.

At an inquest into his death this week, questions were raised about the legality of Ward's custody. Despite a directive being issued by a magistrate that the court could not sit on Sundays in Laverton, a hearing took place just after Ward woke up in his cell. A justice of the peace stood outside the cell and explained that bail would not be granted and Ward would be transferred to Kalgoorlie.

Counsel for the Aboriginal Legal Service Lachlan Carter told the inquest the hearing was a "sham" because there was no real consideration of Ward's entitlement to bail, and the role of the justice of the peace was merely as a rubber stamp.

The police had already called private security company Global Solutions Ltd -- which has a $25million contract for court security and transporting prisoners across Western Australia using Corrective Services facilities -- to arrange for Ward to be taken to Kalgoorlie.

What followed was an appalling breakdown of procedure that effectively led to Ward's terrible death in the back of a dilapidated and unsafe van. Evidence at the inquest this week revealed a litany of incompetence and dishonesty implicating both GSL and the Corrective Services Department.

Despite constant complaints from GSL officers in Kalgoorlie about the poor state of the vehicles, including faulty air-conditioning, it was not until after Ward's death that a new van arrived. Even then, it was found to be inadequate. According to the evidence, GSL failed to ensure staff were trained to look after prisoners properly and safely.

Guards testified that there were no procedures on how many breaks prisoners should have on a journey, how much food and water they should be given and whether the air-conditioning should be checked.

One senior GSL employee accused her two subordinates, guards Graham Powell and Nina Stokoe, who drove Ward to Kalgoorlie, of incompetence and lying about the circumstances surrounding his death.

Ms Stokoe and Mr Powell said that, while they did not stop on the way to Kalgoorlie when transporting Ward, as soon as they heard a thud they pulled over and tried to rouse him. Both testified this week that after realising he wasn't well, they rushed to Kalgoorlie District Hospital and asked for medical assistance.

Yesterday Mr Powell agreed he should bear a moral responsibility for Ward's death and that he should have stopped during the trip.

Ms Stokoe said she was never told that officers were required to make regular welfare checks, ensure prisoners had enough food and water and check the air- conditioning.

GSL, the largest private security company in the world, is no stranger to controversy.
In 2004, it was fined almost $500,000 over its mistreatment of asylum-seekers after the company transported five detainees from Maribyrnong Detention Centre in Melbourne to Baxter Immigration Facility in South Australia.

Despite the incident, GSL is contracted until October to provide security at all of Australia's immigration detention centres, including the facility at Christmas Island.

Ward was well known in the community. He was behind the push for a greater police presence in Warburton, and would often help officers by interpreting for them in their work.

He battled hard to ensure his children and future generations would be seen as the true owners of the Gibson Desert Nature Reserve, and then endeavoured to protect that land.

In partnership with Western Australia's Department of Environment and Conservation, Ward was instrumental in ensuring the survival of the dwindling rock wallaby population, and he protected bush water sources through a cleaning program for rock holes.

"I went out cleaning rock holes ... take a shovel and dig out the earth that blows in and fills them up," Ward said in a statement that formed part of a native title claim.

"I am serious about culture. It was my idea to work and set up a Tjilpi (senior men's) committee as part of the Ngaanyatjarra Council to make sure everyone listened to the old men."

He and his cousin, Daisy Ward, often took children out bush to learn traditional hunting and ceremonies.

"He was a respected man and worked with the traditional elders to educate the children in cultural ways, and developed cultural awareness," Ms Ward said.

"He travelled to China and he represented the Ngaanyatjarra peoples at a land protectionconference. He was an educated man."

Ms Ward said her cousin was a good father and husband who always provided enough food for his family.

She said the community had suffered a great loss, and to move on, they needed to know how Ward came to die in conditions that "no animal should be subjected to".

That's the issue for coroner Alastair Hope, along with the broader question of the privatisation of prisoner transportation in Western Australia.

Mr Hope will hear more evidence in May before handing down his recommendations.

Until then, the two officers involved will continue to transport prisoners for GSL, which is now known as G4S.

Meanwhile, Ward's generous spirit lives on in his homelands, despite the terrible tragedy.

"We have two worlds that people here live in -- the traditional way and the Australian-citizen way," Ward told The Weekend Australian's Nicolas Rothwell in 2006.

"I want my children also to live in those two worlds."

Source: The Australian

Guard takes blame for elder's van death

2 1 March 2009 -The security guard who drove the van in which an Aboriginal elder died of heat stroke has admitted he should take responsibility for the death.

Testifying for a second day at the inquest into the death of 46-year-old Mr Ward, Global Solutions Limited driver Graham Powell said yesterday he regretted how Mr Ward died.

'In hindsight, if I had to do that journey again, I would certainly be doing it a lot differently,' he said.

He agreed with lawyer assisting the coroner, Felicity Zempilas, it was inhumane to transport prisoners in the rear pod of the van over long distances and that the vans were 'certainly not designed for that'.

Coroner Alastair Hope told Mr Powell he was 'troubled' over his evidence about phone calls made after Mr Ward collapsed. Mr Hope said a delay of two minutes between calls was a long time in an emergency.

To questions from his counsel Linda Black, Mr Powell said he should have checked the airconditioning, made comfort stops and told Mr Ward explicitly how to communicate with the officers if he was in distress.

The inquest has heard Mr Powell and colleague Nina Stokoe did not stop during the four hours they had Mr Ward in the van in mid-40C heat while driving from Laverton to Kalgoorlie in January last year.

Mr Ward suffered a full-thickness hand-size burn on his stomach from a hot metal surface inside the van.

Senior chemist David Tranthim-Fryer said the prison van temperature would have been above 50C.

Evidence from a police re-enactment he helped with revealed the van floor reached 56C and the air temperature at least 50C on a slightly cooler day. The temperature would have been hotter with a person inside because there would have been another heat source.

'We opened the back doors and could feel the heat coming out of the pods. The hot air affects you more than anything else,' Mr Tranthim-Fryer said.

Mr Ward's body temperature was 41.7C after 20 minutes of resuscitation in an ice bath while being fanned.

The van's rear-pod airconditioning was not working, a fault noted in the GSL maintenance log more than a month before Mr Ward's death.

Mr Powell said he did not check the airconditioning in the pod despite knowing it had a history of faults. He had assumed Ms Stokoe checked it.

Mr Hope has heard evidence from witnesses, including GSL's Kalgoorlie supervisor Leanne Jenkins, who spoke of substandard 'unreliable' prison vans which were not suitable for long distance travel

The inquest did not finish within the two-week timeframe and Mr Hope adjourned it until May 11. Outside, Mr Ward's cousin Bernard Newberry said his family wanted those responsible charged. The family has asked that Mr Ward's first name not be used.

NATASHA BODDY

Source: The Western Australian

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