JOANNE’S SECRET RETURN
Plans to establish Territory tribute for Peter Falconio
JOANNE Lees has slipped back into Australia on a mission to raise money for a roadside memorial to her murdered boyfriend Peter Falconio, hoping it will serve as a warning to foreign travellers of the risks of journeying in the Outback.
Ms Lees, 43, met with Aboriginal elders in the Central Australian town of Ti Tree in August to discuss what she calls a “Keeping Travellers Safe” memorial to Mr Falconio, who was executed on the Stuart Highway by Bradley Murdoch on July 14, 2001.
She also pleaded with Aborigines to keep the search alive for the remains of her boyfriend – a commitment they gave.
Ms Lees will hold a one-day, invite-only sale of Aboriginal art at Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Women’s Centre on October 28 to raise money for the memorial, which will take the shape of a huge car-sized sculpture of a bird to be called “Falcon Dreaming”.
Ms Lees, who has been living under-the-radar in Sydney and Canberra since May, has chosen Ti Tree, 200km north of Alice Springs, for the memorial because it was the last place at which she and Mr Fal- conio refuelled and watched the sunset together.
Aboriginal informants from the area said Ms Lees told them she did not want to visit the murder site 100km further north near Barrow Creek, or to locate the memorial there, because she found the place “too painful”.
It is only the second time she has returned to Central Australia since the murder – the last occasion was 2002, with a British TV crew.
Murdoch flagged the British couple down as they drove slowly up the highway in their Kombi van and shot Mr Falconio dead. Police believe he wanted to kidnap and rape Ms Lees, who made a miraculous escape after being punched and restrained in Murdoch’s homemade handcuffs.
The bush visit and her coming art event – supported by 2015 Australian of the Year and anti-violence campaigner Rosie Batty and to be opened by the British High Commissioner – have been kept shrouded in her customary desire for secrecy.
At Ti Tree, she spent the day talking to Aboriginal locals and stayed overnight. Some were asked not to talk to the media.
Ms Lees also visited the community of Yuendumu, where people have produced artworks to help her raise money to commission bigscale sculptor Ewen Coates to create the memorial.
The invitation states: “Joanne has returned to Australia to raise money for a permanent memorial to Peter, which will celebrate life and recognise his example – encouraging people to explore and embrace the world and cultures around them.”
Ms Lees travelled with Libby Andrew, the former police officer who stayed with her around the clock in Alice Springs in the aftermath of her 2001 ordeal. Ms Andrew was the only NT cop for whom Ms Lees had any fond words in her book, No Turning Back.
In Ti Tree, they reconnected with Gwen Brown, a former Aboriginal police aid from the community of Ali Curung, one of the first officers on the scene of the crime; and Aboriginal couple Pam Brown and Jasper Haines, who provided crucial testimony at Murdoch’s trial.
Ms Brown and Mr Haines, also from Ali Curung, saw Murdoch’s white four-wheeldrive Toyota near the orange Kombi as they drove past that night. Their evidence was crucial to corroborating Ms Lees’ description of the vehicle to police.
Ms Brown had never spoken to Ms Lees before this visit.
“She was happy that she finally met her witnesses,” said Ms Brown. “We hugged each other.”
Ms Lees told Ms Brown the memorial was “to warn tourists of the dangers”. Ms Brown asked Ms Lees why the planned memorial would not be at Barrow Creek. “She said it was a bad memory.”
Ms Brown said when she first saw Ms Lees in Darwin she was “lonely and sad”. Fifteen years on, she described her as “very happy” and anxious to make a connection with Aboriginal people.
Anthony “Junior” Haines saw Ms Lees in Yuendumu. He said she was crying and spoke of having “a vision”, in which Mr Falconio told her she shouldn’t be in Yuendumu but closer to Ti Tree.
“The vision was Peter saying to her, ‘You are in the wrong place. I didn’t vanish here’,” Mr Haines said.
Ti Tree tracker Dudley Hines said Ms Lees was anxious to know that people were still searching for Mr Falconio. “She was asking me if I’m still looking around,” he said. He told her he was.
Several weeks ago he took police to a spot 30km north of the crime scene where women hunting for seeds to make necklaces said they had seen a hand coming out of the ground.
But the story had become tangled because the women had kept it quiet for more than a year, fearing that they could be attacked by Murdoch.
“I told them that was silly,” said Mr Haines. “He’s in jail and he’s not coming out.” Murdoch, jailed for a minimum 28 years in 2005, has refused to reveal the location of Mr Falconio’s remains.
“You got to find that body,” Mr Haines said. “You got to send him back to his parents in England.”
Ms Andrew said Ms Lees would not comment. It is understood she engaged a PR agency to sell the rights to the story of her return to Australia.