SAVE ME PREMIER BEFORE HE KILLS US ALL

Terrified mum’s personal letter to Annastacia Palaszczuk to escape bikie thug husband

A “BROKEN” Gold Coast mother has written a desperate plea to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk saying she fears her violent bikie husband will kill her and her children.

She has told of being strangled and her partner holding guns and power tools to her head while threatening her.

“Please contact your ministers, your staff, the police, any and every authority – due to (the) failing system the next time you hear my name will be at a candle-lit vigil held for my death from my husband,” she told the Premier.

“I do not want to be the next Teresa Bradford, I deserve a life ... without fear. Your government encouraged me to speak up, I did, now I fear each day I will die.”

Ms Palaszczuk’s office responded by telling the woman to maintain contact with police and to “discuss your safety plan with family”.

“I write to you in fear of my life and that of my son and baby and I will be killed by our abuser – my husband.” “I’ve been spat at, punched, slapped, had items of our home thrown at me, pushed into walls, jumped on and strangled in bed, had my head slammed into doors, sexually assaulted ...” “See, my husband made it very clear when holding guns and power tools to my head he would kill me if I ever said anything or tried to take his kids or daughter away.” “Why must we live in fear because police officers are overworked, understaffed and swimming in red tape.” “Even now there has been drug mules in my home, weapons, replica weapons, assaults, (bikie) club members, drug use and organised crime.” “He follows me, has my little boy questioned at school about where we live. The police response – our hands are tied and our resources are low.” “I now ask, beg and plead with you do to something before I am a statistic or my children are also. I am broken, crushed, afraid, terrified but I am a survivor for now, please allow us to survive, please help.” “I now have nowhere to run and nor should I ... Yet I still sit here wondering if today will be the day I become the next Teresa Bradford.”

A TERRIFIED woman has written to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk pleading for protection for her and her family, saying she does not want to “be the next Teresa Bradford’’.

The woman fears her family will become the Gold Coast’s next domestic violence tragedy.

She has urged Ms Palaszczuk to fix a court system she says grants bail to violent bikie partners, despite legislation that now allows provision for reversal of the onus of proof in bail bids in domestic violence cases.

In a lengthy personal email to the Premier, the mother wrote: “See, my husband made it very clear when holding guns and power tools to my head he would kill me if I ever said anything or tried to take his kids away.

“I write to you in fear of my life and that of my son and baby. I ask you to follow through on the promise of Not Now, Not Ever (the title of the 2015 domestic violence report) and respecting women.

“Please contact your ministers, your staff, the police, any and every authority – due to (the) failing system the next time you hear my name will be at a candle-lit vigil held for my death from my husband.’’

Then, referring to the death of a woman who was stabbed by her former partner when he broke into her Pimpama home in 2017 and then killed himself, she wrote: “I do not want to be the next Teresa Bradford, I deserve a life ... without fear. Your government encouraged me to speak up, I did, now I fear each day I will die.”

Ms Bradford’s death at the hands of her violent and mentally ill husband, after he had been released on bail, sparked a campaign by the Bulletin and Opposition LNP MP Ros Bates that led to DV reforms.

In her plea to the Premier, the Hinterland mother, in her 30s, compares herself to Ms Bradford because despite allegations of serious violence, her husband continues to avoid custody.

She alleges having been “spat at, punched, slapped, had items of our home thrown at me, pushed into walls, my head slammed into doors”. Attempts to strangle her had allegedly occurred on “multiple occasions” until the last time, when she feared dying.

“I am broken, crushed, afraid, terrified but I am a survivor for now, please allow us to survive, please help.”

The Premier’s deputy chief of staff, in an emailed response on behalf of Ms Palaszczuk, asked the young mother to “please accept my sympathies for the painful experience you are enduring”.

The domestic violence and family violence unit and the CIB had been in “close contact” and had developed a “safety plan”, the Premier’s deputy chief of staff wrote.

“Whilst it is acknowledged that the court process can be extremely difficult and stressful, the Government cannot intervene in court procedures or dictate to the courts how to deal with matters regardless of the circumstances involved.”

The mother was advised “the decision to grant bail is a matter for the courts” and to obtain legal advice about a possible appeal.

The mother later wrote to Ms Bates about her “terror” after her husband fronted court on charges including non-fatal strangulation, rape and assault with a weapon.

“He was bailed with oncea-week reporting – we still live in fear each and every day,” she wrote.

Ms Bates put the woman in touch with support services that arranged for a personal alarm system.

“When she came to me she had absolutely nothing,” Ms Bates said. She and emergency service workers believed the case highlighted the difference between some courts and the tougher DV courts at Southport, where bail was likely to have been refused.

A spokesperson for Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath said Ms D’Ath could not comment on specifics of the case, but repeated the Premier’s comments that the new laws allowed for “reverse onus of proof” and victims were alerted if an accused was released. The mother told the Bulletin: “It’s not the police’s fault. I have a safety watch and I’m GPS monitored 24/7. But it’s at the point where I’m being followed by him and his affiliates. As the court case continues, he becomes more aggressive.”

A FRIGHTENED woman has taken the extraordinary step of writing to the Premier, setting out in terrible detail the abuse she and her children have suffered and pleading for help so she does not become “the next Teresa Bradford”.

Her letter lays bare not only her torture and despair, but also the failure of government and the systems that are supposed to protect victims and deal with domestic violence perpetrators.

The Bulletin has obtained a copy of the response from the Premier’s office. Its tone is sympathetic but it offers the woman little hope, since its advice – urging her to use services she has already gone to and, as she explains, have failed her – begs the question whether anyone in that office read the letter carefully or picked up on the impotence of services that are underresourced, and on the inadequacies in the justice system.

The Attorney-General’s office meanwhile hides behind statements that dump responsibility at the feet of the courts. A decision to grant bail, which was given to the woman’s former partner, “is a matter for the courts”, it says, adding there are mechanisms for police prosecutors to appeal bail decisions.

Gold Coasters, whose city has been a frontline for brutal murders committed by violent men on women who tried to flee toxic relationships, are only too aware how this government had to be dragged into supporting legislation that included a provision for “reverse onus” in bail applications in domestic violence cases.

But there has been no such protection for this woman. She says the thug she is trying to escape has used his bikie mates for intimidation.

The woman’s plea to the Premier to honour the promise of “not now, not ever” is telling.

The Bulletin has been highly cynical in the past of the grand words of prime ministers and premiers when talking of the scourge of domestic violence and the need to shield the victims.

Meanwhile, terrified women and children still spend their lives running, living in refuges or huddled in cars while their tormentors track them down. How can this be, that criminals walk the streets while victims have to cower in the shadows and taxpayers and charities have to fund and provide safe havens?

If this State Government was serious, it would ensure GPS tracking devices are readily available when the courts order that the accused be fitted with one.

Why should this woman have to wear such a device herself, in the hope it might assist authorities if she is attacked?

If it was serious, the Government would ensure police have the staffing and the will to act immediately when domestic violence orders are issued or when families call for help.

It would not leave the bulk of responsibility for the dangerous gathering of evidence to the victims.

The courts too must heed the pleas of frightened families and take notice of the legislation, with its reverse onus provision.

Our society should be able to protect the vulnerable, yet the system as it stands is failing in so many areas. It is a disgrace that shames us all.