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