The issue of unsolved murders on the North Coast was raised as a matter of urgency in the NSW Senate last week, by Jeremy Buckingham MLC (Legalise Cannabis Party).
Other members of parliament spoke in support of more action on October 24, according to Hansard records, including Sue Higginson (Greens), Rose Jackson (Labor), Rod Roberts (Independent, former One Nation), Emily Suvaal (Labor), Natalie Ward (Liberal), and Penny Sharpe (Labor).
Buckingham told the chamber: ‘For decades, the victims of these egregious and horrendous acts have cried out from beyond the grave for justice and attention’.
‘Their families wake daily wondering what happened to their child, mother, aunt, sister, partner and friend, hoping for justice and some resolution.
‘Their communities do too. They demand action, resources and most importantly time focused on these most terrible of matters’.
He said after his own investigations, he discovered there is a total of 67 unsolved homicides of women on the North Coast of NSW.
‘… If we look at other jurisdictions around Australia with a similar demographic, and even a similar geography, such as the South Coast, there are not those numbers’.
‘When we look at the North Coast cases, there is an alarming similarity. They were women going about their everyday lives – going home after the pub, going home after work, travelling to see their boyfriends, walking down the street, walking their dogs, or coming home from school. They were abducted, raped, tortured, murdered and dumped somewhere remote that required local knowledge.
‘It happened again and again. The list is absolutely appalling. Look at the faces and the pure numbers of women – all of them unsolved homicides – with families, partners and communities that are demanding action.
‘I call on the state government to initiate a special commission of inquiry to investigate these matters and for the police to redouble their efforts as they have with the LGBTQI+ gay hate crimes’.
Dismissed by Labor Premier Minns
While Buckingham said there had been a taskforce (Project Aletheia) to investigate these matters collectively, he said, ‘It is distressing to me for the premier to dismiss my call for a special commission of inquiry straightaway, when we have not thoroughly interrogated these matters’.
‘I ask the government, or anyone, to say it is not the case that what we have before us is the worst serial killer in the nation’s history getting away with it. Ivan Milat was convicted of seven murders, but there is someone on the North Coast who has murdered as many or more, and they are still among us, if they have not died or fled the country’.
Lois Roberts
Greens MLC Sue Higginson told the chamber that she knew Lois Martha Roberts, describing her as a ‘beautiful First Nations woman’.
‘She was the daughter of Pastor Frank Roberts, a minister with the Church of Christ and an Aboriginal activist, and Muriel Roberts. She was the twin sister of the arts administrator and broadcaster, Rhoda Roberts…
‘My little girl and I loved her. My daughter would refer to Lois as the lady who wears the beautiful dresses’.
Ms Higginson says Lois disappeared hitching to Nimbin. ‘She could not drive because of her injury’, she said. ‘Lois was found by bushwalkers months and months later in a bush grave in Whian Whian, up a fire trail… There are still no answers’.
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