The legal minefield of 'indigenous cultural rights'. I hope they throw the book, or preferably some rocks, at him.
Couldn't possibly comment on the suitability of surnames for those involved.
'Confronting footage of an off-duty South Australian police officer stoning a wombat to death has sparked outrage, but there are claims he is within his rights to do it. Senior Community Constable, Waylon Johncock, was filmed laughing while pegging rocks at a wombat in the state’s Eyre Peninsula. Mr Johncock is indigenous and under the Native Title Act 1993, Aboriginal people are allowed to maintain ancient customs like hunting local wildlife.
'The video drew widespread outrage after being shared to the Wombat Awareness Organisation Facebook page, but an Aboriginal elder has hit back, saying Mr Johncock was within his rights to kill the animal in this way. Wirangu-Kokatha elder Jack Johncock, (that's a convenient coincidence)
told the ABC, that using rocks to kill a wombat is one of the traditional hunting methods used by local Aboriginal people. “For the people of the west coast of South Australia, the wombat is a big part of their diet and they’ll get wombat any way they can.” So, did he subsequently pick it up and take it home for some pre-tenderised bush tucker?
'The video shows Mr Johncock and another man following a wombat in a 4WD along a dirt road. The car stops and Mr Johncock, who was off-duty at the time, gets out and starts following the animal on foot with rocks in his hand. He gives the thumbs up before pelting the wombat with rocks. The driver starts laughing as the animal tries to run away, with the cop continuing to hurl large stones. Mr Johncock raises his arms in triumph and smiles at the camera as the animal struggles on the ground. “You killed him!” the driver says. “First bloke I’ve ever seen kill a wombat on foot, bro.” Because obviously the 'traditional way, unaltered for millennia since the Dreamtime' for indigenous Australians to kill wombats is by shooting them with a high powered rifle from the back of a ute?
Confronting footage of an off-duty South Australian police officer stoning a wombat to death has sparked outrage, but there are claims he is within his rights to do it.
www.news.com.au