Yet another Aboriginal person has died the most inhuman of deaths: without family around, on a cold, concrete floor of a police cell.

The Northern Territory's Attorney-General said that the new paperless arrest laws make it simpler for police to "catch and release people". Police have a tough job and every reasonable effort should be made to make their job easier, but efficiency is not the be-all and end-all: putting safeguards around police powers is entirely appropriate in a liberal democracy.

A recent freedom of information application showed the paperless arrest laws have already been used an extraordinary amount of times – more than 700 times in their first three months of operation. It also showed that they are having a disproportionate impact: more than 75 per cent of people arrested have been Aboriginal.

It is clear that these laws have and will continue to see more Aboriginal people locked up for minor offences.

Another Aboriginal person was locked up for minor offences and died in custody. On these bare facts alone, as a nation we should be outraged.

vulnerable people drinking on the streets should be brought to sobering-up or medical facilities instead of being brought into police stations