Queensland government criticised over ‘absurd’ decision to appoint former police officer to Legal Aid board

Barrister who represented Indigenous Palm Island community says appointing Darren Robinson to the Legal Aid board is a ‘slap in the face to the family of Mulrunji Doomadgee’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A barrister who acted for Mulrunji Doomadgee’s family says it is “unacceptable” for a former police officer criticised for his conduct in investigating the 2004 death in custody to serve on the Queensland’s Legal Aid board. Andrew Boe represented Doomadgee’s family and the Palm Island community council at an aborted coronial inquest in 2005 and then in subsequent inquests in 2006 and 2010. The Queensland attorney general, Deb Frecklington, sacked all Labor-appointed members of the Legal Aid Queensland board in February and later appointed Darren Robinson, now a lawyer based in Townsville. “There must be numerous other applicants with similar qualifications who don’t have this very dark stain on their character and integrity, and it’s a slap in the face to the family of Mulrunji Doomadgee and the community on Palm Island,” Boe said. Robinson, then a senior sergeant, was a frien