‘Protect me from my bikie ex-husband’
A TERRIFIED mother being stalked by her bikie exhusband has again written to the Premier after the courts granted him bail and refused requests for GPS tracking.
The Gold Coast woman gave detectives photographs of her former partner’s bikie mates stalking her as she quickly drove her car to the side of the road on the way to a police station.
“Why can’t I have a (GPS) bracelet on my bikie husband so I know a bullet won’t fly through my front door?” she said yesterday.
The Bulletin this month reported the woman told Annastacia Palaszczuk she had had guns and power tools put to her head, “spat at, punched, slapped, had items of our home thrown at me, pushed into walls, my head slammed into doors” and feared dying as he tried several times to strangle her.
“I do not want to become the next Teresa Bradford” she wrote after her ex-husband was first bailed on charges of rape, non-fatal strangulation and assault with a weapon.
In response, the Premier’s deputy chief of staff said “please accept my sympathies” but explained the government could not intervene in court decisions.
In a follow-up letter last Thursday, the young Coast woman described the Premier’s response as “unthoughtful” and explained that a refuge would be unsafe because bikies employed in government jobs would track her down.
“I should be able to depend on the government, who tell me Not Now, Not Ever, to impose remand or at the very least GPS tracking on the man who tried to take my life, my children’s lifes (sic), bashed, bludgeoned and raped me,” she wrote. “Madam Premier am I not entitled to live a peaceful, safe, normal life with my children. Why am I not allowed to be awarded the basic human right of safety and safety of my children.”
Teresa Bradford’s sister-inlaw Narelle O’Brien has joined the Coast mother in lobbying the government to provide more GPS tracking for offenders and safety watches for their ex-partners.
A Bulletin investigation last month exposed fatal failings in the system, including only two Coast perpetrators being fitted with a GPS device and offenders bailed but ordered to have the device waiting up to seven days for their arrival from Brisbane.
Ms Bradford was killed in 2017 after she had no warning her mentally ill husband was released from custody. He stabbed her then killed himself at their Pimpama home.
“I don’t want (the Gold Coast mother) to be the next person, the next Teresa Bradford,” Ms O’Brien said.
The Coast mother said security watches for women could cost as little as $1500 a year when violent or sexual offenders were granted bail.
“If there is a no-go zone at least the woman will know the offender was there. I support GPS trackers but the police don’t have the resources to call the woman,” the mother said.
A spokesman for the Premier late yesterday said Annastacia Palaszczuk had asked Di Farmer, the Minister for Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, to ensure the woman received ongoing advice and “a direct line of contact” to a senior departmental officer so issues could be dealt with quickly.
The Premier has declined to comment at length because it could jeopardise ongoing court issues.
“Everyone has a right to be safe and feel safe. That’s why the Palaszczuk Government has implemented recommendations from the Not Now Ever Report,” the spokesman said.
Ms Farmer’s chief-of-staff Mike Smith welcomed the mother’s advice on “intervention systems” and “financial aid” for victims and forwarded her comments on the courts to Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath.
Mudgeeraba MP and LNP spokesperson for women Ros Bates said she was horrified by the government’s response.
“GPS trackers are an effective tool to monitor offenders and protect victims if they are implemented properly,” she said.
“Sadly, there have been a number of recent reports showing the rollout has been botched. Bail laws are also supposed to protect the community,” she said.