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In the early 1990s three young Aboriginal people were murdered in the NSW town of Bowraville. Despite two trials, a coroner's inquest, and police and legal experts saying they know who committed the murders, no one has been successfully prosecuted for the killings of Colleen Walker, Clinton Speedy Duroux, and Evelyn Greenup. With every step towards justice, the families of three murdered children have had to endure further disappointment. It’s time for Members of Parliament to make good on the tears they once shed, writes Aboriginal journalist, Amy McQuire.
"To understand it, you have to realise that every time the families have made a breakthrough in the past 26 years they’ve had that small victory tainted in some way. Whether it is the trials of Clinton and Evelyn, the continual knockbacks by both the DPP and the past three Attorneys General, to the current day.
“The indignities that have built around them – from being told their children had gone walkabout, from being accused of hurting their own kids, from learning via the media of vital developments in their case, from having a meeting with the Attorney General delayed by text message. They are acts that would never happen to white victims of crime."
ABC Radio talked about the continued fight for justice with a detective inspector from the NSW Police Homicide Squad.
“If these kids were white, everything about the last 26 years would have been different. We know well that we cannot rely on the NSW government to deliver justice.”
A few days ago the Aboriginal community of Bowraville led another protest at the NSW Parliament over the decades of inaction around the murders of three of their children.
"Hundreds of people rallied outside the NSW parliament on 5 May, still fighting to be heard. My Aunty Leonie led a chant demanding premier Mike Baird come outside and face the families. He didn’t, but we went inside, there to witness the debate on a bill that might mean Hart could face another trial.
“Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi addressed the Legislative Council and pointed out that justice would have been swift if the children were white. Liberal MP John Ajaka spoke about why the government wouldn’t support the change in law. He appeared unmoved as families got out of their seats and walked out in disgust. “If these were your kids”, someone yells across the room, without finishing the sentence. ... "
"There is an old saying that actions speak louder than words, but in the case of the 26-year long battle for justice for the three murdered Bowraville children, it can be said that the inaction speaks volumes about the blatant racism undermining the criminal justice system in New South Wales.
“Why has it been so hard to bring a serial killer to justice? Why is it that we must fight against a system that supposedly exists for our benefit, to put a serial killer behind bars where he belongs? Why is there such a fierce determination from government officials to protect a perpetrator from facing trial in this country?"
