Speaker 1: Good. Just before nine o'clock last night, the jury returned
Speaker 1: guilty verdicts against all three defendants.
Speaker 2: It was absolutely shambles, to tell you the truth, just
Speaker 2: absolutely really coming.
Speaker 1: Blood on his clothing the day after the alleged a
Speaker 1: top on a shallow mud bank and it fits through
Speaker 1: a river.
Speaker 2: Basically, I think most of the people are used to
Speaker 2: me are good people.
Speaker 1: I think a really important question we need to ask
Speaker 1: is how many Indigenous prisoners in Australia are innocent.
Speaker 2: This is Curtain, a podcast where we pull back the
Speaker 2: blinds to shine a light on the darkest parts of
Speaker 2: our justice system and ask who are the victims.
Speaker 1: I'm Amy Maguire and I'm Martin Hodgson, a senior advocate
Speaker 1: for the Foreign Prisoner Support Service. And a warning this
Speaker 1: series contains the names of deceased peoples and has distressing
Speaker 1: content that might upset some listeners.
Speaker 2: Welcome to episode forty five of Curtain the podcast. As
Speaker 2: most of our lists will be aware, the state of
Speaker 2: Queensland recently had an election and a new government has
Speaker 2: only just been announced. We still don't know who the
Speaker 2: new Attorney General will be and it could remain the same.
Speaker 2: So for Kevin Henry's sake. What we're asking is that
Speaker 2: people write to the Attorney General and the Premiere of
Speaker 2: Queensland and asked that both the pardon process and the
Speaker 2: parole process be sped up. As you can imagine, during
Speaker 2: the campaign, issues of paroles and pardons were put to
Speaker 2: the sideline. So that's why we haven't had a lot
Speaker 2: to mention over the last few weeks. When an election
Speaker 2: is called, a government goes into what's called a caretaker
Speaker 2: role and no large decisions are made. So now before
Speaker 2: Christmas is the time to step up the pressure on
Speaker 2: the Queensland government and call for the immediate release of
Speaker 2: Kevin Henry, and also that they continue looking at the
Speaker 2: pardon process, analyzing all the evidence that's been sent to
Speaker 2: the Governor, and that the new Parole Board does their
Speaker 2: job not only for Kevin Henry, but for all prisoners
Speaker 2: in Queensland seeking parole, and especially those who continue to
Speaker 2: maintain their innocence like Kevin Henry. Will update you as
Speaker 2: soon as we can with any new news. Today, December
Speaker 2: tenth marks the beginning of a year long celebration of
Speaker 2: the seventieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Speaker 2: Today is Human Rights Day. But what does that really mean?
Speaker 2: Most people tend to look at human rights in the
Speaker 2: context of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the
Speaker 2: United Nations, and it seems to be something far off
Speaker 2: and far reaching that rarely impacts our daily lives or
Speaker 2: helps us. It's as if people have looked to the
Speaker 2: UN to solve all our problems, when that was never
Speaker 2: the intention of the United Nations, and especially not the
Speaker 2: Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I want to just briefly
Speaker 2: read a quote from the chair of the drafting committee,
Speaker 2: Missus Eleanor Roosevelt, and this is what she had to
Speaker 2: say about universal human rights. Where, after all, do universal
Speaker 2: human rights begin in small places close to home, so
Speaker 2: close and so small that they cannot be seen on
Speaker 2: any maps of the world. Unless these rights have meaning there,
Speaker 2: they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to
Speaker 2: our hold them close to home, we shall look in
Speaker 2: vain for progress in the larger world. That was Eleanor Roosevelt.
Speaker 2: So the question to ask yourselves is what are you
Speaker 2: doing to uphold human rights close to home in those
Speaker 2: small places that cannot be seen on world maps, Places
Speaker 2: like Rockhampton, places like Warabinda and Palm Island and Broom
Speaker 2: in Western Australia, and Alice Springs and Catherine and Calgooli
Speaker 2: and right around this nation where human rights, particularly against
Speaker 2: Aboriginal people continually continue to be infringed upon and breached,
Speaker 2: often with the most deadly of consequences. This week we're
Speaker 2: going to explore two issues. They are two cases involving
Speaker 2: Indigenous community in the justice system that had ongoing updates,
Speaker 2: large updates this week, and the broader issue of Indigenous
Speaker 2: rights in Australia. This week, my co host Amy McGuire
Speaker 2: is away on assignment and it does relate to these
Speaker 2: issues more broadly, so I'll just be discussing these issues
Speaker 2: this week. The first thing that happened this week was
Speaker 2: the conviction of two men for the murder of Lynette Daily.
Speaker 2: Adrian Atwater and Paul Maris were finally sentenced to prison.
Speaker 2: Lynnette Daily sadly lost her life on Australia Day in
Speaker 2: two thousand and eleven at the hands of two white men.
Speaker 2: There is a great deal of irony and tragedy in
Speaker 2: the fact that an Indigenous woman was brutally attacked and
Speaker 2: raped on Invasion Day Australia day, and that she died
Speaker 2: of this attack, and that justice has taken so long
Speaker 2: to come fu Lynnette and her family. Multiple times, the
Speaker 2: Department of Prosecution in New South Wales, despite large amounts
Speaker 2: of evidence against these men, refused to charge them or
Speaker 2: take any action whatsoever. An inquest into Lynnette's death also
Speaker 2: recommended chargers, and once again the DPP did absolutely nothing.
Speaker 2: It's hard to understand for those non indigenous listeners we
Speaker 2: have right around Australia and the world, how this is possible,
Speaker 2: how women could be raped and murdered, How there could
Speaker 2: be so much evidence against two men, and yet the
Speaker 2: Department of Public Prosecution, who is supposed to protect society,
Speaker 2: refused on at least three occasions to charge these men,
Speaker 2: let alone take them to trial. But finally, once this
Speaker 2: did reach court, these men were found guilty because of
Speaker 2: course they were guilty and they had committed this horrific crime.
Speaker 2: I want to read some of the statements made by
Speaker 2: Lynette's family, particularly those that come from her mother and
Speaker 2: her stepfather, Gordon Davis. The family has battled ever since
Speaker 2: Lynnette was tragically taken and if it wasn't for them
Speaker 2: this outcome, this small piece of justice would never occurred.
Speaker 2: And remember about how this continues to happen right around Australia.
Speaker 2: That without communities suffering, family suffering for decades, generations begging
Speaker 2: for justice, just the same justice that anyone else would get.
Speaker 2: These events never come to see the light of day,
Speaker 2: let alone the inside of a court room where finally
Speaker 2: these two Nonindigenous men were found guilty of their crimes.
Speaker 1: This is what.
Speaker 2: Lynnette's stepfather, Gordon Davis had to say. Outside of court
Speaker 2: There'll be no closure, but at least the court has ended.
Speaker 2: We know where they are now, we know they won't
Speaker 2: do it to anyone else. The DPP has a lot
Speaker 2: to learn about aboriginality and Aboriginals. He said, you just
Speaker 2: can't sweep everything under the carpet the way it was
Speaker 2: dealt with. If it was two Aboriginal boys and they
Speaker 2: had done that to a non Indigenous person, they would
Speaker 2: have been jail ages ago. And that's the difference. I
Speaker 2: don't care how you sugarcoat it. That is the difference.
Speaker 2: And we completely agree with what mister Davis has said
Speaker 2: in this issue, and of course our thoughts and condolences
Speaker 2: are with the family as once more they're forced to
Speaker 2: relive what happened to Lynnette, and once again we would
Speaker 2: call on an investigation both into the Department of Public
Speaker 2: Prosecution in New South Wales for taking so long to
Speaker 2: bring this case to court, but also the police who
Speaker 2: investigated this matter. Why did it take so long for
Speaker 2: them to do anything? Why were they so cavalier in
Speaker 2: their approach to Lynnette's death despite the horrific injuries she'd suffered.
Speaker 2: Why did they treat these two men with kid gloves
Speaker 2: and do absolutely nothing for so long. The other ish
Speaker 2: due this week relates to the town of Bauerville and
Speaker 2: the murder of the three children that has gone supposedly
Speaker 2: unsolved for more than twenty five years. Once again, it's
Speaker 2: been the families of the victims and the community in Bauerville,
Speaker 2: the Aboriginal community who has kept this case going for
Speaker 2: more than twenty five years, battling courts and politicians, police
Speaker 2: and a sheer lack of justice for children murdered callously
Speaker 2: and still no one is in prison as a result.
Speaker 2: Over the past week, the New South Wales Court of
Speaker 2: Criminal Appeal has heard evidence about a man suspected of
Speaker 2: murdering two of the children. In fact, he's suspected of
Speaker 2: murdering all three. As you probably know, all three went
Speaker 2: missing from Bauerville in New South Wales over a five
Speaker 2: month period in nineteen ninety and nineteen ninety one. Twice
Speaker 2: this individual has been in court for these matters, but
Speaker 2: in every time and in every way it's been mishandled.
Speaker 2: What's been sought here is that fresh and compelling evidence
Speaker 2: and in the interests of justice, should overturn those not
Speaker 2: guilty verdicts and a retrial should be ordered and the
Speaker 2: retroal should look at all three cases Colleen Walker, Evelyn
Speaker 2: Greenup and Clinton Speedy Euro But just like in the
Speaker 2: case of Kevin Henry, there's a problem, and the problem
Speaker 2: is that because it has dragged on for so long,
Speaker 2: the man who is under absolute suspicion in these cases,
Speaker 2: his lawyer are saying, well, now witnesses accounts have been contaminated,
Speaker 2: that many witnesses have passed away, and this is why
Speaker 2: it shouldn't go to a retrial. This, like in the
Speaker 2: case of Kevin Henry, is blatantly absurd. Just like Colleen,
Speaker 2: Evelyn and Clinton, Linda and her family also deserve justice
Speaker 2: because the police, politicians and prosecutors have bungled these cases
Speaker 2: for so long and witnesses have passed away. Does not
Speaker 2: mean that the real killer in the Bauerville murders should
Speaker 2: get away scott free. It doesn't mean that Kevin Henry
Speaker 2: should still be imprisoned for a crime he did not commit.
Speaker 2: Aboriginal people cannot be continuing to face the consequences of injustice,
Speaker 2: deep dark consequences, the loss of life and liberty the
Speaker 2: greatest thing, justices that exist because others, particularly those in power,
Speaker 2: government and police, make mistakes. So our thoughts are again
Speaker 2: with the families of Bauerville and we hope that the
Speaker 2: court does the right thing in ordering a retrial and
Speaker 2: that this retrial can take place soon and the family
Speaker 2: should not be forced to wait longer and suffer more
Speaker 2: while they seek justice after more than a quarter of
Speaker 2: a century for their families. This brings us to the
Speaker 2: larger issue of human rights in Australia, and as we
Speaker 2: celebrate Human Rights Day today, the tenth of December, we
Speaker 2: have to consider what is being discussed in the broader community,
Speaker 2: and once again, Indigenous rights are largely ignored. The main
Speaker 2: issues we've seen over the last week and throughout this
Speaker 2: year have been around the debate around same sex marriage
Speaker 2: and that recently passing through the Parliament, and of course
Speaker 2: the ongoing issue of refugees being held in disgusting conditions
Speaker 2: in offshort attention on Manus and Nhru. But how do
Speaker 2: these issues relate more broadly will It should be quite obvious,
Speaker 2: and yet it's constantly ignored. Australia has a long history
Speaker 2: of committing the sort of crimes we see on Manis
Speaker 2: and Nru, but these are never discussed when people discuss
Speaker 2: the issues of refugees. Australia continues to fail to address
Speaker 2: its original sin, the invasion and massacre and genocide committed
Speaker 2: against First Nations people. But many people seem to believe
Speaker 2: that stock just after the arrival of the first fleet.
Speaker 2: The fact is it continues to this day. And as
Speaker 2: we talk about Manus and Nhru, two small islands where
Speaker 2: refugees are being held, what we should be discussing to
Speaker 2: understand the context of these places is the way Australia
Speaker 2: post colonialism used islands to punish Aboriginal people and murder
Speaker 2: Aboriginal people. This would give historical context to the way
Speaker 2: the Australian government has always dealt with such issues, but
Speaker 2: sadly human rights abuses committed against Aboriginal people are swept
Speaker 2: under the carpet. So I want to talk briefly about
Speaker 2: two islands that mirror and to be honest, are far
Speaker 2: worse than what has ever happened at manis and Nhru,
Speaker 2: and that if people who truly care about what is
Speaker 2: happening in those two places looked at these two islands,
Speaker 2: that a part of Australia would start to understand the
Speaker 2: broader context and perhaps we could begin to heal as
Speaker 2: a whole as a united country, rather than continually leaving
Speaker 2: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island to people behind. Rotnest Island
Speaker 2: in Western Australia and Palm Island in Queensland were two
Speaker 2: places where the worst of humanity took place, where largely
Speaker 2: white settlers murdered and massacred and imprisoned like refugees in
Speaker 2: their own country, Aboriginal people. The Queensland government took Aboriginal
Speaker 2: people to Palm Island for minor infractions such as being
Speaker 2: an i quote disruptive or being pregnant to a white man,
Speaker 2: or for the crime of being born with mixed blood
Speaker 2: These are all the very definitions of genocide and people
Speaker 2: should not have forgotten parm Island. Remember it's only in
Speaker 2: recent history that once again parm Island was in the
Speaker 2: news when Mulrunji Dummage was murdered by a police officer
Speaker 2: on parm Island. Did that police officer go to jail?
Speaker 2: Of course he didn't. But someone else went to jail,
Speaker 2: a proud Aboriginal man, Lex Woodten, who's been a fantastic
Speaker 2: supporter of Kevin Henry and Lex went to prison because
Speaker 2: he was protesting the disgraceful actions of police, the criminal
Speaker 2: actions of police, and the continuing and disgraceful treatment of
Speaker 2: Aboriginal people on parm Island by both the government and
Speaker 2: law enforcement. And yet it was he who ended up
Speaker 2: in prison. Thankfully, Lex is free now and he received
Speaker 2: some compensation for what happened. But no compensation can ever
Speaker 2: bring back Mulrunji. No compensation can ever make up for
Speaker 2: the hundreds of years of trauma and persecution and murder
Speaker 2: and death that's been targeted upon Aboriginal people across Queensland
Speaker 2: and those sent to Palm Island. What about the trauma
Speaker 2: of the children and all the people living on Palm
Speaker 2: when Mulrunji was killed. What about those who are still
Speaker 2: living with the consequences in his family, who have never
Speaker 2: seen justice for their loved one. How is this place
Speaker 2: any different to manis and Nhru and why doesn't it
Speaker 2: receive the same attention in Western Australia. Like in Queensland,
Speaker 2: Rotten Island was used as a prison colony. It was
Speaker 2: used almost exclusively for Aboriginal people. And what many people
Speaker 2: don't realize but should, is that hundreds of Aboriginal men,
Speaker 2: women and children died on the island. It's believed up
Speaker 2: to three hundred and sixty nine graves are still on
Speaker 2: the island. Nearly four thousand Aboriginal men and boys were
Speaker 2: imprisoned on the island while it was used as a
Speaker 2: prison colony. The reports, not just from Aboriginal people, but
Speaker 2: from white people who visited the island during this period
Speaker 2: speak of cruelty that goes beyond what most could imagine.
Speaker 2: The killing of inmates being beaten, the large scale death
Speaker 2: of inmates who were exposed to the influenza virus. This
Speaker 2: is one of the darkest places in Australian history postcolonialism,
Speaker 2: and yet it rarely rates a mention. Just like con
Speaker 2: Palm on Rotnest Island, Aboriginal prisoners were treated brutally. It's
Speaker 2: the sort of thing you expect to see on the
Speaker 2: news from bygone eras, and yet Australia will not acknowledge
Speaker 2: it as part of its history and won't seem to
Speaker 2: make the connection that if Australia was willing to do
Speaker 2: this to Aboriginal men, women and children for simply having
Speaker 2: mixed blood, as they say, for simply being pregnant to
Speaker 2: a non Indigenous person, for being an I quote disruptive,
Speaker 2: is it any one day that they'll do this to
Speaker 2: those who are fleeing war zones around the world trying
Speaker 2: to come to Australia for a better life, and then
Speaker 2: in them on MANUS and NRU. Australia needs to make
Speaker 2: this connection. Australia needs to understand that in prisons right
Speaker 2: around this country right now, Aboriginal men, women and children
Speaker 2: are being treated violently and despicably. We've seen the footage.
Speaker 2: We've seen what happened in don Dale, We've seen what
Speaker 2: they did to Miss Due in Western Australia. We've seen
Speaker 2: what they did to mister Briscoe in Alice Springs. We
Speaker 2: know what they've done over decades to Kevin Henry, we
Speaker 2: know all the stories the four hundred deaths in custody
Speaker 2: of Aboriginal people in the last twenty five years. Australia
Speaker 2: has a prison problem, and that should be obvious. The
Speaker 2: country we now know as Australia was founded as a prison.
Speaker 2: It was founded on invasion, murder, genocide and brutal treatment
Speaker 2: and that continues to this day. So as we look
Speaker 2: at Human Rights Day twenty and seventeen and think about
Speaker 2: those small places close to home, so small they can't
Speaker 2: be seen on any maps of the world, we should
Speaker 2: be thinking about every community, small town and large town
Speaker 2: and city in Australia where human rights abuses continue. And
Speaker 2: as Eleanor Roosevelt famously said, we shall look in vain
Speaker 2: for progress in the larger world if these human rights
Speaker 2: abuses are not tackled, if the citizens of this country
Speaker 2: don't seek to uphold them. Right now, it falls on
Speaker 2: the families of the people, like those families of Lynette
Speaker 2: Day and the Bauerville families, and the family of Kevin Henry,
Speaker 2: and the family of Linda and the family of Miss dew.
Speaker 2: Why does this continue. It continues because Australians refuse to
Speaker 2: make the connection between all the human rights abuses that
Speaker 2: began with invasion and continue to this day. Australia has
Speaker 2: to wake up and look at the connection that exists.
Speaker 2: We have to put the pieces of the puzzle together
Speaker 2: to see the bigger picture. If we don't, these fractured pieces,
Speaker 2: these small places that cannot be seen on maps, like
Speaker 2: Palm and rot Nest, like in Rockhampton and in don
Speaker 2: Dale and right around the country, human rights of Aboriginal
Speaker 2: people will continue to be abused. This country needs a
Speaker 2: wake up and if we're going to treat this day
Speaker 2: of human rights seriously for those who haven't begun to
Speaker 2: take action, to day should be that day. To day
Speaker 2: should be that day that you send that e mail
Speaker 2: to the Attorney General of Queensland on behalf of Kevin Henry,
Speaker 2: and with that spirit in mind, it should also be
Speaker 2: the day you send an email to the Immigration Minister
Speaker 2: of Australia about what's happening on Manus and Neru. It
Speaker 2: should be the fact that you also send an email
Speaker 2: to the Attorney General of New South Wales and ask
Speaker 2: why it took so long to get justice ful Nnette
Speaker 2: Daily in her family, And what are we going to
Speaker 2: do about the brutal police right around this country. If
Speaker 2: you don't take action to day, then we shall look
Speaker 2: on in vain. That was episode forty five of Curtin
Speaker 2: the Podcast. Please check out our website, Curtainthepodcast dot com,
Speaker 2: go to our Facebook page of the same name, and
Speaker 2: find us on Twitter, and don't forget you can support
Speaker 2: the work that Amy and I are doing to assist
Speaker 2: not only Kevin Henry, but many families around Australia seeking justice,
Speaker 2: Indigenous families that deserve the truth to be known and
Speaker 2: justice to be done. We can't do it with nothing,
Speaker 2: and all these families and all Aboriginal people deserve much
Speaker 2: better than what has come to this day.