The family of an Indigenous man says he has fled a remote south-west Queensland town fearing for his safety after a local police officer threatened to "flog" and "hurt" him.
Video footage has emerged of the policeman in the remote town of Cunnamulla making threats against the 28-year-old man to his sister, Jacinta Munn, sparking informal internal inquiries within the Queensland Police Service (QPS).
The man's family and an Indigenous rights expert are calling for immediate action to make him feel safe enough to return home.
The footage, captured about two weeks ago, shows the Cunnamulla officer in the driver's seat of the marked police car, asking Ms Munn if she had seen her older brother.
His family said police were looking for him over "about $40 worth of stolen Keno tickets", but police would not comment on the circumstances.
"If he comes to me, it looks a lot better for him, because either way he's being arrested," the officer says in the video.
"If you do see him, tell him to come see me before I find him, or else I'll flog him."
Ms Munn replies: "Well, he'll get charged — I don't think you can flog him."
'He won't come back'
The man's father, Darryn Munn, says the threats have scared the entire family.
"When you have a police officer, that is out there to protect and serve, say that they want to bash your son, I fear for not just his life, but all of my family," he said.
Mr Munn said that from the way the officer was "giggling" in the video, he doubted he was going to merely "fairy tap" his son if he carried the threat out.
"I feared that he was going to give my son an ultimate hiding, the way he was smirking at that," Mr Munn said.
"If my son's done wrong, then take him, but don't threaten him along the way."
Mr Munn said his son left town after he saw the footage.
"Once he got that footage, he said, 'I'm outta here, I'm gone' — and sure enough, the next day I didn't see my son again," he said.
"I haven't seen him yet.
"Mightn't have Christmas together this year because of that, because he won't come back to Cunnamulla, I can say that with confidence."
Internal inquiries underway
A QPS spokesperson told the ABC the South West District Office was conducting internal inquiries and senior police were travelling to Cunnamulla to liaise with community stakeholders and speak with family members.
"The Queensland Police Service expects all sworn members and civilian staff to adhere to the QPS Integrity Framework and the Queensland Public Service Code of Conduct," a spokesperson said.
Indigenous academic Chelsea Watego said it was "hardly surprising to see those kinds of remarks" from a QPS officer.
"I think what is quite telling is that in a post-Black Lives Matter movement that a police officer could be so comfortable making those comments repeatedly," she said.
"It speaks to the free licence the Queensland Police Service have."
Police said no formal complaint had been made to its Ethical Standards Command.
But Dr Watego said the QPS had enough information to act immediately.
"Given the QPS have seen the footage, they surely must act, independently of any formal complaint process," she said.
"There is no investigation needed here, because the footage says it all, and I don't know how the Queensland Police Service cannot act swiftly on this, cannot take action and hold one of their members accountable for their [alleged] misconduct.
"It just seems to me bizarre, though it's telling of the QPS, beyond the officer, about the culture of violence that they clearly still support."
