The Red House

by Kate Wild

How the fatal shooting of Kumanjayi Walker exposes the power of race in Australia, from Walkley Award-winning journalist Kate Wild.

A young Aboriginal man and a white police officer face each other in a house in the desert. The violence that passes between them carries the pain and anger of generations of unfinished business.

The Red House is not just a book about the fatal shooting of Kumanjayi Walker and Constable Zachary Rolfe's murder Walkley Award-winning journalist Kate Wild exposes the potent power of race in Australia.

This is an exploration of the inseparable connections between this country's past, present and future, and the chance to change that cycle.

'Kate Wild's The Red House is an extraordinary and gutsy piece of work. This is an investigation that requires a cool head and a deep heart — and Wild has both. She is thorough and unwavering as she examines not only the killing of a young Indigenous man in an isolated desert community and the high-profile murder trial of a policeman that followed, but also tracing patterns that have been in play for far too long in this nation. Deft and electric, The Red House is a must-read and Wild is a writer to trust.' ANNA KRIEN, journalist, author and poet

'A gripping and confronting narrative built on forensic research, The Red House is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand race relations in Australia today. With an unflinching eye for detail and human frailty, Kate Wild takes us inside one of the most tragic events in recent Australian history and reveals it as part of one long, interconnected moment. Unmissable.' MARK MCKENNA, historian and author

Genres: Australia

Audible Audio

Published September 4, 2025

Reviews

[Callum's Column · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kumanjayi Walker was killed by police officer Zachary Rolfe in the remote Aboriginal community of Yuendumu in 2019 during a botched arrest. Walker had attacked Rolfe and his partner with scissors, so Rolfe shot him three times. Rolfe had ignored plans to arrest Walker the following morning if he had not turned himself in. Rolfe also had a record of violent conduct in the police force. He liked roughing people up. He was a massive racist (look at some of his texts to fellow officers). Under the law, it was his right to kill Walker, even though the evidence suggested it was unlikely that either he or his partner were in life-threatening danger. Alas, there was a risk.

Kate Wild pieces together this sorry affair and its aftermath in this book. Importantly, she provides a voice to the Warlpiri people, whose perspectives were sidelined by white people with far more money and influence in the media and the legal system. Their anguish, resilience, and restraint are commendable—they were subjected to so much, and still more (another Yuendumu resident died in custody last year). Wild exposes Rolfe’s trial and the coronial inquiry, which found systemic—and systematic—racism in the NT Police Force (not all officers are racist, but the institution has deep structural problems). It went all the way to the upper echelons; the fish rots from the head.

Wild places this killing in its historical context in and around Alice Springs: from a massacre of Aboriginal people a hundred years ago, to police brutality and impunity from the law, and also Aboriginal killings that cannot be excused. Wild is balanced in her analysis and does not shy away from the violence and crime that Walker committed against his partner and neighbours within his community. However, she places this too in historical context, tracing his tragic march to death from the womb. That said, one is unlikely to obtain much new information in this book beyond the perspectives of the Warlpiri people, as the case is so high-profile.

I write this on the same day as a man in Darwin was sentenced to a community corrections order for killing an Aboriginal man in a hit-and-run. Apparently, he showed demonstrable remorse for the judge to hand down this sentence. This man had called the person he killed all kinds of racial epithets after the hit-and-run and joked about it with his friends. Community corrections order. The Northern Territory has terrible relations with First Nations people. Things do not seem to be improving, with the current government implementing policies that will make things worse—for example, lowering the age of criminal responsibility from 12 to 10. Shame.

If you enjoy my reviews and analyses, you can find more on my Substack. It’s free, and no sign-up is required—just your email. https://callumscolumn.substack.com/

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow wow wow. This is an important story and I think it is really beautifully done. It's not an easy read, content wise, but a must read none the less. It's an exploration of systemic racism and cultural divide that exists within Australia. The concept of the everywhen is such a beautiful way to frame the impact and importance of the Kumanjayi Walker's story. And the final takeaway for me was about the necessity of not looking away, not leaving the story.

Edit 

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘When I heard police had killed an Aboriginal man in a remote community in the Northern Territory, I knew the country could be changed by what happened next.’

Reading this book is challenging. There are so many issues to try to consider. Ms Wild provides accounts of the murder case in which Zachary Rolfe was acquitted and of the lengthy coronial inquiry into Kumanjayi Walker’s death. She also includes details of some of the historic cases in the Northern Territory (involving the deaths of both black and white people), of the unrest and despair in Alice Springs caused by youngsters running amok. Other issues include aspects of the culture in the Northern Territory Police Force and the social media frenzy surrounding the case as opinions polarised around support for Walker or Rolfe.

‘The riddle I am unable to solve is how to respect and heal one person’s trauma while protecting others from the damage their trauma inflicts.’

There is no doubt that Kumanjayi Walker was a very troubled young man. While some of his extended family spoke of a young man who smiled a lot and cared for animals, they did not mention the violence he initiated, his crimes and custodial sentences. He was impulsive and often demonstrated poor judgment.

Kumanjayi Walker absconded from rehab and returned to Yuendemu. The local (female) police sergeant planned to arrest him at 5 am on 10 November 2019, if he had not handed himself into police beforehand. The police sergeant was aware that a funeral was being held for one of Kumanjayi Walker’s grandparents on the afternoon of the 9th of November. But … the Alice Springs Immediate Response Team (IRT) became involved because Kumanjayi Walker had earlier threatened local police with an axe.
The four person IRT arrived in Yuendemu in the afternoon of the 9th of November. While apparently on an intelligence gathering exercise, they located Kumanjayi Walker and decided to arrest him. He wounded Zachary Rolfe and was shot once. One of the other members of the IRT overpowered Kumanjayi Walker, but Rolfe shot him twice more.

‘Any area where police were killing people was a good indicator of where society was shirking its responsibility. The list of difficult subjects raised by an Aboriginal man’s death at the hands of police was one I wanted people to read line by line.’

I kept reading, through the murder trial and then to the coronial inquiry.

‘An Indigenous and a non-Indigenous woman seated together on the judge’s bench, speaking Warlpiri and English in turn, was not business as usual.

Zachary Rolfe’s trial had been a men’s affair but the inquest would be women’s business.’
Ms Wild reports that Coroner Elizabeth Armitage found that Rolfe worked in an organisation where racism was entrenched. He also believed himself superior to many of the other more experienced police officers. Rolfe also had a history of violent confrontations with suspects (particularly Aboriginal men) and sent videos of those confrontations to others as ‘entertainment’.

‘Quite aside from the factions inside the NT Police, there lay an irreconcilable division between the law the police enforced and the culture and law of Aboriginal communities.’

Ms Wild’s account also includes a conversation with a Yuendemu elder who explained that justice in Warlpiri culture was a spear in the legs, a punishment witnesses by members of the families of both victim and assailant. The families would then be ‘even’ and no-one would need to be imprisoned.
And finally, towards the end of her account, Ms Wild visits Memory House (the house where Kumanjayi Walker was fatally shot).

‘I could not reconcile the pain on display with a young man who had struggled to be cared for when he was alive. Memory House and its queue reminded me of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The person in the sarcophagus was not an individual, they were a representation of loss that could not be quantified. One young man’s body stood in for the lost lives and dreams of a whole society.’

A complex and confronting story.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Sholto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astonishingly good. I picked this up one Saturday morning and it was so easy to read, and so gripping, that I had to read it in one sitting.
Wild does an amazing job at weaving together narratives of Aboriginal community, police culture, domestic abuse, regional crime, and the many relationships that underpin the circumstances of a police shooting.
One of the things that blew me away was Wild's access to Aboriginal relatives and neighbours of the shooting victim. Invited into homes in a remote community to eat barbecued roo tail and talk about sensitive topics – it shows amazing skill as a journalist to gain such trust.
I found my perspectives shifting when Wild covered the police's perspective; cops clearly have a very tough job and even when a character comes across as unlikeable, it's still hard to fully back one side over the other.
Strongly recommend, even if you're not into the subject matter. Destined to become one of the greatest examinations of Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal relations in modern Australia.

[Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild does an amazing job of weaving together the various threads to produce a stunningly coherent and balanced account of the killing and its fallout. Plus there are plenty of personal observations and commentary to put events into perspective. A few photographs would have been nice, but the pictures and videos that form a core part of the story are readily available online. Terrific read and highly recommended for anyone involved in policing.

[James Nonu-Carling · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive exploration of Kumanjayi Walker’s death that combines first-hand accounts, court transcripts, and historical context to expose the white supremacy in the Northern Territory police, and structural racism in wider Australia.

The Red House uncovers the impossible burden faced by First Nations; the expectation to abide by unjust systems that continually subjugate them and uphold their oppression.

[Clare Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book struck so many chords with me, especially since living in the Northern Territory during this time. Emotionally complex content which at times was too much to process. Such vast, detailed and nuanced narrative of huge events written so compactly. Heart breaking but still ultimately a love letter to the Territory.

[Mitchell A · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving, delicate retelling. A very important story that everyone should know.

[Josemack · Rating 3 out of 5]

excellent

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very powerful ending.