INNOCENT OR BUST
Homeless mum living in a tent next to road
SUE Neill-Fraser’s supporters say the convicted killer won’t accept parole should her appeal bid next week fail to secure her release.
Neill-Fraser has served more than 12 years of a 23-year sentence for murdering Bob Chappell.
THERE is only one way Sue Neill-Fraser will walk out of jail before her 23-year-term is up, her supporters say, and that is if she is exonerated of murder.
Long-time supporters of the convicted killer have told the Mercury the 66-year-old grandmother will not accept parole should her second appeal bid – due to unfold on Monday – fail.
“She will not apply for or accept parole because it would look like an acknowledgment of guilt,” key supporter Rosie Crumpton-Crook said.
“In Tasmania, you don’t have to admit guilt or remorse to get parole and I think she gets that. But she wants to be exonerated.
“If you’re a convicted murderer, there’s a cloud over your name, there’s still that stain. The police would still be checking on you and those types of things.
“Sue just doesn’t want to have to deal with that.”
Ms Crumpton-Crook said supporters were keenly holding out hope that next week’s Tasmanian Court of Criminal Appeal hearing would lead to an acquittal – not a retrial or the upholding of the original conviction.
“How can you find a jury that is unaware of this?” she said.
“How could you find anyone in Australia who had not heard about this case?
“It would also be very hard for Bob’s family.”
She said supporters had been nervously awaiting next week’s appeal, which NeillFraser initially applied for five years ago, and which has been repeatedly delayed.
“A retrial would be better than upholding the original conviction, but we would hope there won’t be a trial,” Ms Crumpton-Crook said.
“I think we’d all be completely traumatised if that happened.”
Neill-Fraser is currently serving a prison term of 23 years for the Australia Day 2009 murder of her partner, Bob Chappell.
She will be eligible for parole after serving 13 years, which will tick over in August 2022.
The Sunday Tasmanian previously reported that NeillFraser could still be eligible for parole next year despite her refusal to admit guilt.
TUCKED away in the trees next to a major highway, a Hobart woman is living in a small tent and struggling to survive.
After being on the social housing waiting list since September 2019 and exhausting short-term shelter and accommodation options, Crystal Kenzie, 42, is now camping in a pocket of bushland at Warrane.
She said she could keep living that way.
“I suffer breakdowns. I just can’t keep doing this anymore,” she said.
“I feel like I keep going in circle and everybody says they can’t help me.” not
Ms Kenzie’s home consists of a small tent, blankets, some canned food and a campfire.
She can visit her sister’s house, about a 30 minute walk away, to shower, charge her phone and get help with things such as going to the pharmacy.
However, neither her sister or mother are in a position to take her in, and she is in the process of divorcing her husband of more than 10 years.
“I have two kids, but I can’t see them, so I don’t bond with them. One is 21 and the other is 19 — they live at their dad’s,” she said.
“I’ve lost contact with them because I’ve got nowhere to take them. I can’t bring them here,” she said of her campsite. Ms Kenzie is living with physical and mental health conditions, such as poor eyesight, diabetes, anxiety and depression.
Ms Kenzie said that she also became scared at night.
“One night when it was raining I got stuck in the creek. I couldn’t see properly and I almost drowned,” she said.
“I ended up walking to my mum’s place and slept in the shed.”
The Mercury put questions to the Department of Communities and the Housing Minister Roger Jaensch about Ms Kenzie’s situation, but a government spokeswoman said they were unable to comment on individual cases due to privacy concerns.
She said Housing Connect offered a range of services to those in need, such as emergency accommodation, short and medium term accommodation in motels and cabins, assistance to access private rentals or referral to a Housing Support Worker.
“The time taken to house somebody on the waitlist is influenced by a range of factors including their specific needs and areas selected on their application,” she said.
“The Human Services Dashboard for the September 2020 quarter shows that the average number of weeks to house priority applicants was 63.4 weeks.”
She said to address demand, $300 million was being invested, which would include more than 1500 new homes for social housing in the next three years.
PROPOSED right-to-die laws will require amendments that may slow their passage through the House of Assembly, the MP sponsoring the bill says.
The University of Tasmania on Monday released its report on the operation of the bill and similar laws interstate.
The legislation is at the top of the notice paper when parliament resumes next week, but Bass MP Sarah Courtney says drafting and debating amendments will take time.
“Obviously, there will need to be a number of amendments so it’s my intention this week to put my head down and make sure that we can come up with the best possible legislation that is the safest for Tasmanians,” she said. “I’m not going to pre-empt how long the committee stage will take that will end up being for other members and ultimately the number of amendments that have moved.
“In terms of the conduct of the debate that will be at the will of the house, but I’ll be ready to start that debate next Tuesday morning.”
The government has allowed its members a conscience vote on the matter, revealing a schism between conservative and moderate MPs.
Member for Clark Elise Archer yesterday joined her colleague Michael Ferguson in expressing continued reservations about the bill
“The 139 risks raised by the [government] agencies alone are enough to cause great concern, especially given the limited time available before this bill is before the House of Assembly next week.
Labor leader Rebecca White said parliament should work swiftly to make the bill law. “We do head back to parliament next week, so it’s a short period of time to process what’s in that report,’’ she said.
“The member for Bass Sarah Courtney has indicated that there will be amendments that she proposes to move next week, but she hasn’t yet circulated those, which does leave the time available for members to assess that against the current bill a little bit tight.”
House of Assembly members voted 17-7 in favour of the bill during the last sitting week in early December.
Live and Die Well spokesman Ben Smith said the University of Tasmania report had revealed the bill to be a “plethora of inconsistencies, ambiguities and obscurities.
“The protection of vulnerable Tasmanians will be compromised if this bill is rushed through the House of Assembly next week.”