We can’t excuse animal cruelty
IF tormenting a defenceless animal is your idea of fun, you have no business being a police officer.
You’re the last person who should be trusted with a firearm and given the respect and authority that comes with the badge.
Indeed, in a just, civilised society a person who derives pleasure from torturing an animal to death would be facing charges followed by a stint behind bars.
But not in Australia, where a senior police officer unequivocally guilty of animal cruelty can hide behind his indigenous heritage and the Native Title Act to avoid prosecution and disciplinary action.
In October, Waylon Johncock became known as the “wombat killer” after footage of him laughing and celebrating as he stoned the creature went viral.
The disturbing video of Johncock chasing, tormenting and killing the wombat at it waddled down a dirt road sickened animal lovers across the globe.
When it was revealed that the culprit was a police officer, South Australia Police promised to act. Then it emerged Johncock was an indigenous Senior Community Constable helping non-indigenous officers understand the social and cultural issues within the indigenous community.
For most people that changed nothing but for others it meant a heinous act had magically become a traditional cultural practice. Soon there were voices defending the indefensible.
Some indigenous elders said Johncock was entitled to kill the wombat by stoning it because as an indigenous man he was simply practising his culture.
Kaurna elder Jeffrey Newchurch went as far as likening Johncock’s critics to colonisers and, incredibly, claimed that calls for his sacking were “cruel”.
“How cruel in this day and age that you can go that far, where a man who has served our state and served the force that he works for, ‘no we don’t want him, take him out’, how can you make that judgment?” he said.
Animal cruelty is animal cruelty and it’s no less heinous if committed by someone of Aboriginal descent, but it is treated differently under Australian law.
Under the Native Title Act, indigenous Australians are permitted to hunt species that are otherwise protected and that often means using methods that are disturbingly cruel. That is what allowed Johncock to dodge charges.
Last Friday, South Australia Police Commissioner Grant Stevens released a statement explaining why Johncock wouldn’t be charged or face disciplinary action beyond being counselled over his use of social media.
“As a traditional Aboriginal man, the senior community constable has an appropriate permit to hunt wombats for food,” the commissioner said.
“While distressing to many who viewed the video, it has been established the senior community constable’s actions were not inconsistent with traditional hunting practices. I have been advised that the wombat in the video was killed and eaten.”
Even if you believe the wombat was eaten, it’s shameful that we have a legal system with two sets of rules depending on one’s skin colour or ethnicity. Not all indigenous leaders backed Johncock.
Ngarrindjeri elder Major “Moogy” Sumner said: “We didn’t hunt like that. It may be their way but it’s not our way and to run around and laugh about it and make a big joke out of it, that’s wrong.”
How can we criticise the Japanese for their whaling practices and the Taiji dolphin hunt or condemn China for the Yulin dog meat festival when we ignore horrendous abuse of our own animals, including protected and endangered species?
I’m at a loss to understand what is “traditional” about using a modern vehicle’s high beams to blind an animal, using a smartphone to film the abuse and slaughter and then posting it on social media for clicks and giggles.
Wombats are not the only protected species that are killed in this manner. The unchecked, unmonitored cruelty of “traditional hunting” results in protected dugongs and endangered sea turtles being routinely slaughtered on Australian shores.
No culture should be immune from progress. The Native Title Act must be changed to reflect modern Australian values.
Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist.