Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the Northern region of New South Wales (NSW) has an alarming number and cluster of unsolved homicides and missing persons cases, particularly from the late 1970 onwards,

(ii) many of the victims were First Nations, from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and women,

(iii) in many of these cases there is a similar modus operandi of the perpetrator(s),

(iv) despite the investigating agency, NSW Police, publicly speculating that some of these cases may be linked, there has never been a police strike force established to investigate these cases collectively, and

(v) representatives of the NSW Police Association have publicly stated that lack of funding for homicide investigations in Northern NSW has seriously impeded homicide cases being solved;

(b) supports the calls from families, friends and communities impacted by these egregious crimes for resourcing, and a commitment from the Government to ensure that the truth is established and justice is served in these matters; and

(c) calls on the Government to ensure that the Australian Federal Police engage with NSW Police to contribute resources and personnel to assist in solving these missing and murdered persons cases.

This motion is concerned with a large number of unsolved cases of missing and murdered people, mostly women and First Nations, in New South Wales between 1997 and 2015. I am aware of research showing there are at least 30 cases in the geographical area north of Newcastle alone, which does not have a high population. Some of these cases seem clustered in geography and time frame with sometimes remarkably similar circumstances.

Communities have long wondered if cases might be linked, yet a New South Wales Police strike force was never established to investigate these cases collectively. The investigation of these cases has long stalled, which New South Wales policy states is due to resource constraints. In the meantime, all the families and communities affected are still wondering what happened to their loved ones or seeking justice for those they lost. Crimes on people like us—women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, First Nations women—do not get investigated and prioritised. I myself have been touched by the murder of a woman who had no justice. My aunty's daughter was carried, deceased, in the perpetrator's arms, to the front lawn of her mother's house and thrown dead onto the front lawn. This murder was never, ever looked at. The police did not care, because there was substance abuse involved. You know, the old 'drunken blackfellas'—the stereotypical way we are regarded in parts of this society that we are trying to live in. The police didn't care enough, because to them they were just drunks. Yet my aunty mourns my cousin, who's younger than me. That man carried her dead in his arms, dumped her on the front lawn and the police did nothing.

Let me just read out the names of a number of other women who are missing or murdered with no justice. Their families continue to live with the grief or the not knowing where their loved one is: Narelle Cox disappeared from Grafton 1977; Robyn Hickie disappeared from Belmont 1979; Amanda Robinson disappeared from Swansea 1979; Anneke Adriansen and Alan Fox disappeared from Kempsey 1979; Lewis 'Buddy' Kelly murdered in Kempsey in 1983; Hilda Clarke disappeared from Coffs Harbour in 1986; Susan Isenhood was murdered in Taree in 1986; Lesley Waterhouse was murdered in Port Macquarie in 1986; Helen Madden disappeared from Nambucca Heads in 1988; Susan Kiely disappeared from Bellingen in 1989; Evelyn Greenup was murdered in Bowraville in 1990; Colleen Walker-Craig was murdered in Bowraville in 1990; Clinton Speedy-Deroux was murdered in Bowraville 1991; Bronwyn Winfield disappeared from Lennox Head in 1993; Gordana Kotevski disappeared from Charlestown in 1994; Melissa Hunt was murdered in Stockrington in 1994; Ineka Hinkley was murdered in Bellingen 1996; Margaret Cox was murdered in Taree in 1996; Lee Ellen Stace murdered in Yamba in 1997; Lois Roberts murdered in Nimbin in 1998; Lucy MacDonald disappeared from Lismore in 2002; Margaret Gall was murdered in Raymond Terrace in 2002; Rose Howell disappeared from Bellingen in 2003; Harmony Bryant was murdered in Bonny Hills in 2003; Kylee-Ann Schaffer disappeared from Willawarren in 2004; Roslyn Reay was murdered in Newcastle 2005; Simone Strobel was murdered in Lismore in 2005; Amanda O'Dell was murdered in Kempsey 2006; Jasmine Morris disappeared from Grafton in 2009; and Ellen Wilson disappeared from Ballina in 2015.

I hope the people listening to this today can see that there is no justice. All we are asking for is some respect for those families and for those mothers who continue to mourn the disappearance or murder of their loved one, and some pressure on the police departments and the police to properly investigate when a black woman or a black person goes missing or is murdered. Our lives do matter in this country, and, yes, we are black lives, but this can't continue. There is a continued pattern here, and all we ask is that you take it seriously. It's not a political statement. It's not about politics; it's about justice. And I hope that you find it in your hearts to do the right thing.