Bloody road to change
Parliament hears litany of failure
LIZARD man Bronson Elleryry was living just two blocks away ay from Shelsea Schilling’s familyly before he bashed and suffocatedter her.
But neither Shelsea or her other family members, all of them having taken out a domesticme violence order against the bikie associate, were aware he e had been released from jail.
Stunning revelations about the lead-up to the shocking Southport murder-suicide were told to MPs at State Parliament on Wednesday night as the LNP’s tough new laws on domestic violence perpetrators passed through the House.
Opposition prevention of domestic violence spokesperson Ros Bates during her speech repeatedly asked Labor MPs to look at Coast domestic violence victims in the public gallery and explain why they were opposing the reforms.
“Tonight in the gallery is Bonnie Mobbs, the mother of Shelsea Schilling. Shelsea lived her young life in fear. She was terrified of Bronson Ellery and she tried to change her entire life to get away from him,” Ms Bates told MPs.
“Bronson Ellery was given bail and no one in that entire family was notified of his release. Every member of Shelsea’s family was part of the DVO, and not one of them was notified that he was on parole.
“He was living two blocks from that family. He accosted a terrified Shelsea at Australia Fair. What short life she had was lived in fear. Her family still live in fear.”
Ellery 22, appeared in the Southport Court in March last year where he pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. He was sentenced to 18 months jail but released early due to his progress towards rehabilitation.
Under existing laws, if a domestic violence perpetrator is charged with another offence their victim will not be alerted to their impending release.
Ms Bates asked Duncan Pegg, the Labor Member for Stretton, to “turn around and face Bonnie and tell her why an alert system to save another family will not work”.
The Private Member’s Bill was passed after the LNP gained the support of the independents and Labor MPs voted in favour, ensuring about 80 per cent of the legislation would proceed.
The reforms reverse the presumption for bail in serious domestic violence-related crimes, introduce a DV Alert system and allow GPS trackers to be fitted to an alleged offender.
Ms Bates said she had been heartened by the support of the families of victims along with non-government service providers.
Sitting next to Ms Mobbs in the House was Dale Shales, the mother of Teresa Bradford who had fostered several children and was now bringing up her grandchildren.
Ms Bradford was murdered by her estranged husband David on January 30 at their Pimpama home after he was released on bail despite having punched and kicked her in a vicious attack last November.
“Those opposite have not met Teresa Bradford’s children. They have not listened to their heartfelt anguish over the death of their mother,” Ms Bates said.
“These children were in the house when their father murdered their mother in cold blood. These children have said time after time that they believe that if their father was never given bail then their mother would be still alive today.
“They knew their father was dangerous. They knew it was inevitable that he would hurt their mother again.”
Ms Bates asked Attorney General Yvette D’Ath to “turn around” and face Ms Shales and “explain to her why you believe this Bill would not have saved her daughter”.
Others in the gallery included Sonia Anderson, who lost her daughter Bianca and was supporting the Coast mothers. The only absentee was Natalie Hinton, mother of Tara Brown.