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Keli Lane was convicted in 2010 for the 1996 murder of her 2 day old child, despite the child’s body not being located. Attempts by her lawyers to appeal were all rejected, and Lane subsequently asked journalist Caro MeldrumHanna to conduct an investigation. The result was a three-part documentary, EXPOSED: The Case of Keli Lane, which broadcast on the ABC in 2018. This was followed by calls via social media for people who might have knowledge of events from 1996, such as anyone living in the same apartment block. Again, the investigation continues.

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Exposed: The Case Of Keli Lane | Studio 10

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Chris Dawson was arrested and detained by police in 2018 by Queensland police for the murder of his late wife Lyn Dawson after her disappearance in 1982. Lyn's body has never been located despite his convictions in 2018 and 2019. he has contested these claims and is now currently on trial.
A sixteen-part Australian crime podcast series, The Teacher's Pet, by walkley award-winning journalist Hedley Thomas of The Australian, was broadcast in 2018 with large amounts of evidence that was not collected by any of the police investigations. The series has close to 30 million downloads and created a large amount of public interest in the case,but was made unavailable in Australia in consideration of the ongoing legal proceedings.

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Chris Dawson

This is a news collection page for Lynette Joy Dawson who was reported missing on Saturday January 9, 1982 and three decades later it is a missing persons cold case. A mother of two children and wife of Chris Dawson, a former Newtown Jet rugby league player, Lyn was determined by two state coroners that she is dead and that a "known person" committed an offence. The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) however, have not prosecuted the known person. 9News will provide the latest updates on the Lyn Dawson case as soon as it is available.

Chris Dawson to stand trial over former wife's murder

Lynette Dawson disappeared in 1982 from Sydney's northern beaches.

Teacher's Pet podcast 'could have jeopardised Dawson case'

The lawyer for accused killer Chris Dawson says the Teacher's Pet podcast could have jeopardised the case.

Dawson to plead not guilty to murder

The lawyer of accused wife-killer Chris Dawson said "pervasive" and "ideological" media reporting could impact his murder trial.

Podcaster likely to be called as witness in potential Dawson trial

The journalist whose podcast galvanised the cold case investigation of Lynette Dawson is likely to be called as a witness at her husband's potential murder trial.

Lynette Dawson's family 'ecstatic' after cold case arrest

The brother of missing Sydney mother-of-two, Lynette Dawson, said he was "ecstatic" on hearing the news that Chris Dawson was arrested this morning.

Hundreds walk in honour of missing mum Lynette Dawson

Hundreds are expected at Long Reef surf club on the northern beaches to walk in memory of Lyn, and lay flowers in a 'beautiful place.'

Dig at Lynette Dawson’s old home comes up empty

Investigators began searching Ms Dawson's former home at Bayview on Sydney's Northern Beaches last Wednesday, with the operation finishing today.

Florence, new phones and a very Spanish fight for independence

Here's a selection of the best photography from Australia and around the world on Friday, September 14

Police continue to dig up Lynette Dawson's $2.4m former home

The five-bedroom Gilwinga Drive property on Sydney's Northern Beaches where police are searching for Ms Dawson's remains was sold last year to new owners.

Lyn Dawson family shocked at speed of latest dig

Lyn Dawson's family shocked at the speed of backyard dig as day two gets underway and police move closer to laying charges against husband Chris.

Police ‘confident’ murder charges can be laid against Chris Dawson

A search is underway in four spots at the former Sydney home of Lynette Dawson, after a podcast renewed interest in her 1982 disappearance.

'Once they're legal, they're fair game'

Former pupils reveal rogue teachers at Chris Dawson's school 'pursued students' as case surrounding Lyn Dawson's disappearance deepens.

Husband of woman who vanished 36 years ago has 'nothing to hide'

In a world exclusive, A Current Affair tracked Chris Dawson down to ask him about his knowledge of his wife's disappearance, and the exchange quickly turned fiery.

Teachers Pet podcast: Law firm explores NSW school sex abuse claims

Alleged systemic sexual abuse by a pack of predatory teachers at three Sydney high schools in the 1980s could soon trigger a slew of costly civil suits against the NSW Department of Education.

Cop probe into 'abhorrent' school abuse claims welcomed

NSW Minister of Education Rob Stokes has embraced a police strike force which will investigate historic claims of teachers systematically grooming teen students for sex at three Sydney high schools.

Teacher's Pet podcast: Call to track 'predatory pack of Sydney teachers'

Disturbing claims that a predatory pack of male teachers at three Sydney high schools groomed girls for sex in the eighties must be investigated, NSW Labor's education spokesman has declared.

Lyn Dawson: 'Last chance' for truth and justice, as pressure grows on NSW DPP

The distraught family of a devoted Sydney mother who mysteriously vanished in 1982 believe a sudden surge of public interest in her cold case could be their final chance for answers and justice.

Police alert to claims pack of teachers in 1980s preyed on Sydney schoolgirls

NSW Police are aware of explosive claims emerging in a podcast alleging a pack of male teachers aged in their thirties groomed young girls at three Sydney high schools for sex in the 1980s.

Predator teachers groomed Sydney schoolgirls in '80s, podcast claims

The NSW Department of Education have refused to confirm if an investigation is underway into shocking allegations made in a popular podcast that a predatory pack of male teachers at three Sydney high schools systematically groomed schoolgirls for sex in the 1980s.

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Lyn Dawson news on mysterious disappearance and missing persons case

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Get the latest news on the mysterious 1982 disappearance and likely murder of a Sydney mother Lyn Dawson

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Interest group/media- Justice for Kathleen Folbigg

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Interest group/media- Justice for Kathleen Folbigg

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Kathleen Megan Folbigg is an Australian woman who was convicted of murdering her three infant children, Patrick Allen, Sarah Kathleen and Laura Elizabeth. She was also convicted of the manslaughter of her fourth child, Caleb Gibson. The deaths took place between 1989 and 1999. This justice group attempt to prove her innocence with scientific evidence.

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Kathleen Folbigg was a loving mother of four children; Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura. On May 23, 2003, she was found guilty by jury of the murder of Patrick, Sarah and Laura, and guilty of the manslaughter of Caleb, in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

There was no physical evidence the children were murdered. The prosecution relied on circumstantial evidence to present their case. Kathleen has spent the last 15 years in prison and continues to maintain her innocence.

In June 2015, three Newcastle-based Barristers submitted a Petition to the Governor outlining grounds upon which Kathleen’s convictions should be reviewed. This Petition contains fresh and compelling evidence consistent with Kathleen’s innocence, including a report from one of Australia’s leading forensic pathologists who concluded that there is no basis in forensic pathology that any of the children were smothered.

Three years later, Kathleen and her supporters are still waiting for the Governor to respond to the Petition.

It has been wonderful to receive so many messages of support for Kath over the last 24 hours since it was announced that there would be a second inquiry into her case.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to let us know that they are with us in our fight for justice.

Kath has responded to the Attorney General’s statement in which he apologised for the grief he was causing Craig Folbigg, her ex husband.

Speakman noted: “I have also again spoken with their father Craig Folbigg to inform him about today’s decision; I am deeply sorry that yet again he and his family will have to re-visit their nightmare.”

Kath’s school friend Tracy Chapman spoke to her following the announcement.

She said: “Kath lives with the grief of losing her four children every day – just as her ex husband does.

“She thinks about her children constantly and the loss is further compounded daily by the reality that she’s a maximum security prisoner because in the eyes of the law she’s been convicted of the worst crimes imaginable.

“The fact there is another inquiry shows how compelling the new scientific and diary related evidence is.”

Speakman’s statement regarding the inquiry, which will be headed by the Honourable Chief Justice Bathurst, ended with the words: “Given this matter will now be the subject of an independent judicial inquiry, I do not propose to provide any further comment at this time.”

However, he told Channel 7 News that he could “well understand why members of the public may shake their heads and roll their eyes in disbelief about the number of chances that Ms Folbigg has had to clear her name”.

Our question to Speakman is: should an innocent woman simply shut up and accept her 25-year, non-parole period jail sentence when 150 scientists are supporting evidence that she should be pardoned? No amount of head shaking should stand in the way of science.

The official statement from the Australian Academy of Science regarding the announcement of a second inquiry reads: “While many Fellows of the Academy think there is overwhelming evidence to justify Ms Folbigg’s immediate release, we respect the Attorney General’s decision and the legal process he has decided on, which is to have a second Inquiry.

“The Academy welcomes the Attorney General’s invitation to attend the new Inquiry.

“The Academy intends to assist the Honourable Chief Justice Bathurst by making available suitable experts to advise on the medical, genetic, diary and probabilistic evidence. Given the complicated nature of the evidence, this will likely involve recruiting experts from around the world.

“While the new genetic evidence in this case has already been peer reviewed by other scientists, the Academy appreciates that the legal community has its own methods for testing evidence.

“The Academy will seek to facilitate that process as best it can and looks forward to receiving the draft terms of reference for the Inquiry from the Attorney General so it can assist in defining the scope of the Inquiry.”

Justice for Kathleen Folbigg was also saddened by the insensitive headlines printed by some newspapers yesterday, particularly an article by Matthew Benns in the Daily Telegraph that was headlined “Kid killer Folbigg in new review”. Surely the media should have examined the new evidence in the case well enough to have moved on from such casual cruelty?

As Quentin McDermott noted in The Australian: “For the past seven years at least, the NSW government has had solid evidence that there were serious doubts surrounding Folbigg’s convictions. In 2015, world-renowned forensic pathologist Stephen Cordner concluded that: ‘Ultimately, and simply, there is no forensic pathology support for the contention that any or all of these children have been killed, let alone smothered.’

“Almost certainly, by announcing a second inquiry, Speakman has effectively delayed any final decision until after the state election next March. That means if eventually Folbigg is freed, he may well not be the one to announce it.

“And his decision begs more questions than it answers. Despite asserting ‘there is a need for fairness and transparency to all’, Speakman refused to release the legal advice he has received. One can only guess at what that legal advice says, what course of action it recommends, and whether he has followed that advice.”

The team at Justice For Kathleen Folbigg were both elated and disappointed by the announcement today that a second inquiry would be held into her convictions.

We are elated to finally receive a response from Attorney-General Mark Speakman. We are disappointed that Speakman chose to call for another costly inquiry when the evidence is clear that Kathleen’s children carried fatal genetic mutations.

His decision to only reference Kathleen’s ex-husband Craig and his family’s trauma in his statement also shows a blatant disregard for the suffering that Kathleen has endured.

The announcement follows a petition to the Governor of NSW that called for Kathleen Folbigg’s immediate pardon and release.

The petition was endorsed by the Australian Academy of Science and supported by more than 150 scientists, including Nobel laureates professors Elizabeth Blackburn and Peter Doherty. It argued that fresh genetic evidence showed that ‘has been wrongfully incarcerated because the justice system has failed her’.

It took Speakman 14 months to respond to the petition. Here is the full statement he released this afternoon:

On my recommendation, Her Excellency, the Hon Margaret Beazley AC QC, Governor of NSW, has directed a second inquiry into the convictions of Ms Kathleen Megan Folbigg.

The Governor has appointed recently retired Chief Justice, the Hon Thomas Bathurst AC QC, to conduct the inquiry.

In 2003, Ms Folbigg was convicted of the homicides of her children Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura following a trial by jury. On appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeal imposed a total sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of 25 years.

In addition, this matter has seen several unsuccessful appeals to the Court of Criminal Appeal, a number of applications to the High Court, the 2018-2019 inquiry, and in relation to that inquiry’s findings, a discontinued application for special leave to the High Court following a judicial review by the Court of Appeal.

The deaths of Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura have caused immeasurable and continuing grief to their family and the community. I have written to Ms Folbigg’s legal representatives to advise them of the decision. I have also again spoken with their father Craig Folbigg to inform him about today’s decision; I am deeply sorry that yet again he and his family will have to re-visit their nightmare.

Since the inquiry in 2018-2019 conducted by the Hon Reginald Blanch AM QC, a fresh petition has sought the exercise of the Royal prerogative of mercy to grant Ms Folbigg a pardon.

The petition refers to developments in genetic science in respect of the CALM2 genetic mutation found in Sarah and Laura Folbigg. Among other grounds, the petition argues this has provided an updated cause of death for both Sarah and Laura.

Although the original 2018-2019 inquiry was aware of the mutation, there was no completed study as to the functional effects of that mutation at that time. Such a study has now been completed. Notwithstanding that Ms Folbigg has already had numerous attempts to clear her name, this new evidence, and its widespread endorsement by scientists, cannot be ignored.

However, I declined to recommend to Her Excellency that she pardon Ms Folbigg. Ms Folbigg’s representatives contend that the new scientific evidence is compelling. However Ms Folbigg has been unsuccessful in numerous public proceedings to date and there is a need for fairness and transparency to all. Against that backdrop, it would not be appropriate for the Governor now simply to grant a pardon, or (for example) for the Governor or me to receive private briefings from experts with a view to considering granting a pardon, without that evidence being scrutinised independently in a public forum. Only a transparent, public and fair inquiry can provide a just resolution of the doubt or question raised by that new evidence.

I thank Mr Tim Game SC, Ms Joanna Davidson and Ms Kathleen Heath for their advice and assistance in this matter.

Ms Folbigg continues to serve her sentence of imprisonment. At the conclusion of the inquiry, Mr Bathurst will prepare a report. If he is of the opinion that there is a reasonable doubt as to Ms Folbigg’s guilt, Mr Bathurst may refer the matter to the Court of Criminal Appeal for further consideration.

Given this matter will now be the subject of an independent judicial inquiry, I do not propose to provide any further comment at this time.

NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman continues to stall his decision on the petition to the Governor of NSW that calls for Kathleen Folbigg’s immediate pardon and release.

The petition was endorsed by the Australian Academy of Science and supported by more than 150 scientists, including Nobel laureates professors Elizabeth Blackburn and Peter Doherty. It argued that fresh genetic evidence showed that ‘has been wrongfully incarcerated because the justice system has failed her’.

Speakman’s only comment when approached by News Corp last week was: “I have received detailed advice from senior and junior counsel regarding the various issues raised in relation to the petition. The matter and advice have been carefully reviewed and I expect to make an announcement shortly.”

Journalist Quentin McDermott notes in The Daily Telegraph that Kathleen could possibly face five potential outcomes arising from the petition, although her legal team considers that there is only one outcome supported by the evidence: a pardon.

PARDON AND RELEASE

Speakman can recommend to the NSW Governor that the petition should be granted, and that Kathleen should be pardoned and released. The NSW Government says that: “Some examples of extraordinary circumstances in which pardons have been granted include wrongful convictions, where new methods of forensic evidence raise significant questions as to the petitioner’s guilt.”

Kathleen’s legal team says her case “fits this definition exactly, because of the new genetic evidence.”

If Kathleen is released, Speakman can also refer her case to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal, for her convictions to be quashed.

REFERRAL TO THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL

Even if Kathleen isn’t pardoned and released, Speakman can refer her case to the Court of Criminal Appeal for her convictions to be quashed, based on the fresh evidence contained in her petition.

Kathleen’s legal representatives will not oppose such an application. They expect that if a referral is made by Speakman, it will be based on his conclusion that her convictions should be quashed, and that the application will not be opposed by the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions.

PARDON DENIED

Speakman can deny the petition to pardon and release Kathleen.

If he does so, almost certainly it will cause a storm of protest from the science community, backed strongly by the Australian Academy of Science, which has offered to assist Speakman by providing experts to help him assess the fresh genetic evidence. Speakman has turned down their offer.

Professor John Shine, President of the Australian Academy of Science, told News Corp: “Internationally, other mothers wrongly convicted of murdering their children based on the improbability that multiple infants can die in the one family from natural causes have been released.”

He said Kathleen is “the last known woman to remain in prison because of this discredited assumption. She remains incarcerated despite the new clear scientific evidence.

“I again call on the NSW Attorney General to make an evidence-informed decision, based on the strong, new scientific evidence demonstrating Ms Folbigg’s innocence, and release her from prison.”

SECOND INQUIRY ORDERED

An inquiry into Folbigg’s convictions in 2019 ended with the inquiry’s Commissioner, a former Director of Public Prosecutions and Chief Judge of the NSW District Court, Reginald Blanch, reporting that his investigations had “produced evidence that reinforces Ms Folbigg’s guilt,” – a conclusion which has been hotly contested by Folbigg’s supporters and by the science community ever since.

It is open to Speakman to order a second inquiry, following the submission of fresh evidence in the petition. But Kathleen’s lawyers argue that “is unnecessary because full details and evidence have already been provided to the Attorney General.”

The last Inquiry in 2019 heard evidence from Professor Vinuesa and others that the genetic mutation they had discovered was “likely pathogenic”.

But despite this discovery, Blanch refused to reopen the inquiry to hear further evidence about the CALM2 G114R variant. Later experiments would demonstrate that the variant is indeed lethal.

EARLY PAROLE

The final option which Speakman may have considered, is to grant Folbigg early parole. In this eventuality, her release would be conditional, and her convictions would stand.

It would be a decision which sets Kathleen free but without necessarily acknowledging the new science which, her legal team argues, permits a pardon to be granted.

Her lawyers say: “Taking this course would indicate a refusal to consider properly the fresh evidence and apply the law.”

Read Quentin McDermott’s full, compelling news article here.

How you can help

If you live in NSW, send a letter to your local members of the NSW Parliament demanding they speak to Speakman on your behalf and table a related question asking when he will provide a decision on Kathleen’s pardon petition.

Your local members of parliament are located here.

Here is a sample letter to use:

Dear [insert local member’s name],

I write as a member of your electorate to draw your attention to the case of Kathleen Folbigg. I request that you raise the issue of Ms Folbigg’s ongoing incarceration with the NSW Attorney General, Mr Mark Speakman and that you raise the issue in parliament in the next sitting period.

Kathleen Folbigg was convicted in 2003 for the murder of three of her children and the manslaughter of her firstborn. From 1989 to 1999, Kathleen Folbigg’s four children – Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura – all died at different ages. All four children had autopsies and they were diagnosed with dying from natural causes.

Despite no signs of murder detected at autopsy, the prosecution claimed Ms Folbigg smothered all her children. Selected entries from Ms Folbigg’s private diaries were cited to establish her guilt.

In November 2020, new genetic evidence became available through functional testing of a mutation identified in Ms Folbigg and her two daughters. A study conducted by 27 scientists from several countries was published in the prestigious Oxford University journal, EP Europace. The study concluded that CALM2 G114R is pathogenic, and thus there is a >99% certainty that the mutation was responsible for the death of both Sarah and Laura.

Over a year ago, on 3 March 2021, a petition was sent to the NSW Governor and the Attorney General requesting that Ms Folbigg be pardoned based on evidence of natural causes of death and an absence of any evidence of smothering. This was strongly supported by the new studies that provided a genetic basis for the cause of death for Sarah and Laura. The petition has been backed by more than 150 leading scientists and doctors worldwide, including three Australian Nobel Prize Laurates.

In the interests of the accurate assessment of science generally, but also, in this case, the Australian Academy of Science wrote to Mr Speakman to offer him and those advising him a briefing about the new genetic evidence. Eight of the world’s best experts offered their time to Mr Speakman pro bono, to explain in detail and answer any questions about the new genetic findings. Mr Speakman declined this offer.

3 March 2022 marked the one-year anniversary of the petition requesting Ms Folbigg be pardoned. For over a year, Mr Speakman has had significant, probative evidence pointing to an innocent woman in prison wrongfully. Mr Speakman said in budget estimates on 16 March 2022 that he would say something “within a month”. The deadline of 16 April 2022 has now passed.

There is an innocent woman languishing in prison for crimes that science has proven never occurred. I do not want to live in a state or country which allows an innocent woman to remain in prison despite strong scientific evidence of innocence.

I ask you as my local member /NSW Attorney General / NSW Shadow Attorney General to raise this important case with the NSW Attorney General and demand he respond to the pardon petition immediately.

I can be contacted on [insert contact details].

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

[insert name]

As journalist Quentin McDermott so poignantly wrote at The Weekend Australian: “One year ago this week, in a world first, two Nobel prize winners backed a petition to the Governor of NSW calling for the pardon and release of a woman once viewed as Australia’s most notorious ‘child killer’ – Kathleen Folbigg.

“Last year’s petition was endorsed by the Australian Academy of Science, and supported by more than 150 scientists, including Nobel laureates professors Elizabeth Blackburn and Peter Doherty. It argued, with the benefit of fresh genetic evidence, that Folbigg ‘has been wrongfully incarcerated because the justice system has failed her’.

“Twelve months on, the petitioners are still awaiting a decision.”

The responsibility for that decision lies primarily with NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman. He argues that he is taking so long because the petition and its accompanying submissions are “complex and voluminous”. However, he has refused offers of assistance from the scientific community.

Her lawyers Rhanee Rego and Dr Robert Cavanagh describe the “delay is astounding, the process opaque and the lack of willingness to work with scientists, inexplicable”.

In a message delivered to The Weekend Australian, Kathleen said: “I am saddened and extremely disappointed that there is no response at the 12-month mark from Mr Speakman in relation to the pardon petition and the overwhelming supporting scientific and medical evidence … I am an innocent woman, and a mother who has lost her family under heartbreaking circumstances, still sitting in a maximum-security prison after nearly 19 long and challenging years.”

Read Quentin’s compelling article here.

On Friday, the Australian Academy of Science released a letter it had sent to the NSW Attorney-General stating: “The new indisputable genetic evidence establishes Ms Folbigg’s innocence beyond reasonable doubt.”

“The options before you are simple: respect the scientific and medical evidence that provide ample justification of the pardon of Ms Folbigg and demonstrate that you take seriously your responsibility to provide justice to the people of NSW or deny justice by denying science and place under a cloud the integrity of the NSW justice system,” says the letter, which is co-signed by the academy’s outgoing president, John Shine, and four other professors.

Kathleen’s legal team has asked NSW State Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan to hold a coronial inquest into the deaths of all four children.

Childhood friend Tracy Chapman hopes a coronial inquest will help set the record straight.

“Kath’s told me nobody appears to be listening to any of the scientists, the linguists, the medical and mental health experts …,” Tracy told the ABC.

“This is just devastating and astonishing. That the experts who have looked deeply at this case can be ignored should scare us all.”

Kathleen wants a coronial inquest to give her children the epitaph they deserved and wants to help others.

“The most important thing to Kath right now is that the cutting-edge science that proves her innocence will help other families deal with similar genetic anomalies, to avoid heartbreaking catastrophes,” Tracy said.

Happy New Year to everyone who shares our hope that Kathleen Folbigg will finally be given her freedom in 2022.

We have almost reached 2000 signatures on our petition that calls on NSW Attorney General Mark Speakman to release her NOW!

Kath wanted us to share a special message with you:

“To all my lovely supporters, advocates, scientific geniuses, medics, therapists and legal eagle minds that have travelled parts of this damn long road with me …I wish you all well and hope that 2022 brings all of us our wishes, desires, wants and even basic needs that we are all yearning for. I hope that everyone’s health stays strong and we all strive each day to be a better version of ourselves. My appreciation, gratitude, love and adoration is as strong as always. Love, Kath.”

2021 was a huge year for Kath – her case is now internationally recognised and the scientific community both here and abroad has rallied behind our calls for justice. So many people across the world are asking really important questions about why and how Kath was ever convicted, why she remains in prison and what the NSW legal system is doing.

We still have no answers. The Attorney General’s delay is unjustifiable and he continues to be silent.

We will not give up – human rights and dignity are important for everyone including Kath. She may just be a woman from Singleton to those in power; just one person, but to us she is our friend and she is a kind, loving person who has been treated so poorly by those who should have done better.

This case is bigger than just Kath – she is an example of a failure of the legal system. It is profoundly sad that those in power continue to leave an innocent woman languishing in prison even when they have clear evidence in front of them of Kath’s innocence. Our fight is to improve the system for us all – for our children, their children and ourselves.

That being said, so many great things happened in 2021. 60 Minutes produced two programs (plus an ‘extra minutes’ segment) on Kath which you can watch here:

Discovery Channel aired a documentary to 80 million viewers worldwide (unfortunately not to Australia just yet) entitled “The Baby Killer Conspiracy”. This is an excellent program which talks about Kath’s case, and the tragic UK cases of Sally Clark and Angela Cannings which are very similar to Kath’s.

The Australian Academy of Science, Cosmos Magazine, the Age Examine and Australian Science Media Centre all listed Kath’s case in their top stories for 2021! Kath’s story has been shared thousands of times across the world and featured in places like the New York Times, Washington Post, on CNN and in countries such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, Norway, China and India. The level of support from science and the media has been unprecedented. Here are some of the stories:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/08/world/australia/kathleen-folbigg-child-murder-genetics.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/05/06/australian-mother-murder-genetics/

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/19/australia/kathleen-folbigg-children-deaths-sids-intl-hnk-dst/index.html

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=DTWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailytelegraph.com.au%2Ftruecrimeaustralia%2Fcrimeinfocus%2Fnew-recording-of-kathleen-folbigg-talking-about-her-children%2Fnews-story%2F74a7df10aebe46a0359460c9625fa164&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=dynamic-cold-control-noscore&V21spcbehaviour=append

https://www.science.org.au/news-and-events/news-and-media-releases/celebrating-science-year-review

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7562464/more-of-2021s-biggest-science-stories

Further media stories, books and documentaries are coming. The interest in this case is only growing and people are seriously wondering why the NSW legal system is unprepared to listen to science and act on this miscarriage of justice. The role of all players in Kath’s conviction and maintenance of her incarceration are under the microscope.

We will share the legal team’s submissions in support of the petition soon. These submissions are clear on why Kath’s case is a miscarriage of justice and why her immediate release is the only reasonable way forward.

Please continue to spread the word about Kath’s case. Those in power need to know that this is not going away and the fight will continue. Whenever you post about Kath’s case, please use the hashtag #justiceforkathleenfolbigg

Please ask your friends and family to sign the petition and share it around.

Thank you.

More voices have been added to the growing support for Kathleen Folbigg’s immediate release, with Lawyer’s Weekly releasing an update on her case, an in-depth investigation by Wired and a new documentary on the way.

Lawyer’s Weekly writes: “A ground-breaking development within clinical practice that indicates a natural cause of death for two of Kathleen Folbigg’s children is further evidence that she has spent the last 19 years behind bars for a crime she never committed, her solicitor tells Lawyers Weekly in this exclusive look at likely our worst miscarriage of justice yet.

“Earlier this year, a legal team behind Ms Folbigg circulated a petition containing new research into an unreported cardiac mutation found in two of her children, Sarah and Laura, that explains how they likely died from natural causes. In a development shared with Lawyers Weekly, that mutation has been added to the list of mutations in ClinVar, a worldwide authoritative database used by clinicians and geneticists.

“Put another way, if the mutation – referred to as the CALM2 G114R gene – is found in an infant who dies without explanation, a genetic counsellor will inform the families that it is the cause of death. Ms Folbigg’s lawyer, Rhanee Rego, said not only would this bring families some certainty, but it would lead to better options for people to start preventative therapy that was not available to Ms Folbigg over two decades ago.

“Today, Kathleen, who has the CALM2 G114R mutation but is affected differently by it (given her cardiac history), would be counselled that she could consider having a cardioverter device implanted to avoid having a fatal cardiac arrest,” Ms Rego said, adding that ‘it’s hard to emphasise just how important [the ClinVar addition] is because it has the capacity to save lives across the world’.

“In addition to saving countless lives, the addition of CALM2 G114R to ClinVar is an “important breakthrough” for science and solidifies that the two female Folbigg girls died from the lethal mutation, rather than the crimes their mother was convicted for.”

“I very strongly urge the Attorney-General and those advising him to expedite this matter and not let an innocent woman spend her 19th Christmas in prison. Look at the cold, hard, verifiable scientific facts that lead to the only reasonable conclusion: there is an innocent woman languishing in prison for crimes she did not commit,” Ms Rego said.

Click here to read the full article

Why this renowned forensic pathologist fights for Kathleen

​​Wired has published an article that explores Carola Garcia de Vinuesa’s involvement in the case, after being asked to examine the evidence in 2018.

It reveals that in her email to the lawyer, Carola wrote: “As a mother, I cannot think of any more worthy cause to invest time and effort in. I find it hard to believe there is someone sitting in jail for this.”

It also notes that in 2013, Stephen Cordner, a renowned forensic pathologist at Melbourne’s Monash University wrote up a 112-page report arguing that the facts more strongly supported natural causes than smothering—the evidence for which was zilch. In a veiled criticism of the expert testimony in Kathleen’s case from 2003, he wrote, “There is no merit in forcing certainty where uncertainty exists.”

Wired writes: “In June 2015, Folbigg’s legal team delivered an official petition, including Cordner’s report, to the attorney general’s office in Sydney, where it sat for three years. Finally, on August 22, 2018, attorney
general Mark Speakman announced that an official inquiry would take place the following year.”

In 2018, a technician in Vinuesa’s lab put samples of Kathleen’s DNA through a genetic sequencing and discovered a mutation in Kathleen’s CALM2 gene. CALM2 is one of three genes in the calmodulin family, which among other things help regulate the heart’s expansions and contractions. Other calmodulin variants have been associated with severe cardiac disorders and sudden death in infancy.

“Professionally, Vinuesa had little to gain from spending her free time investigating the genome of a convicted killer. But seeing that mutation in the CALM2 gene triggered in her a sense of duty.

“In December, Vinuesa finished her report on the CALM2 variant and sent it to Folbigg’s lawyers. They passed it on to inquiry officials in the government. Soon, Vinuesa was traveling to Sydney to meet with a
handful of other scientists who had been assigned to the case. Officials with the New South Wales attorney general’s office had asked these scientists—some of whom worked for the government—to conduct a separate genetic investigation.

Vinuesa, eager to share her results on CALM2, told them what she’d found. To her surprise, she sensed in a few of the scientists in the room some conservatism—even animosity—toward her approach.

In February 2019, Vinuesa found in Laura and Sarah precisely the same CALM2 mutation as in Kathleen and wrote a report saying the novel CALM2 variant was “likely pathogenic.”

In March, the Folbigg inquiry hearings began at the Forensic Medicine and Coroner’s Court in Sydney’s western suburbs. Vinuesa and several of the geneticists came to testify.

Wired reports that the members of the Sydney team were seated on an elevated platform, while Vinuesa and her colleague were instructed to sit to the side at a small table and her credentials were questioned.

“I was introduced in a way that was disqualifying from the outset,” she said. “I felt it, and I was so angry.”

A little while later, a pediatric cardiologist named Jonathon Skinner, who had assessed the cardiac health records of Folbigg and her children, was called to testify. At one point, Furness asked him about
the CALM2 gene. Skinner responded that because Kathleen showed no evidence of cardiac disease, to suggest it had killed her daughters was “stretching credibility.”

“In the weeks after her testimony, Vinuesa spent several sleepless nights going over what had happened in court.

“One night, when she was home and obsessing over the case, Vinuesa emailed a handful of cardiac geneticists for their opinion on the CALM2 variant. One of them was Peter Schwartz, a cardiovascular geneticist at Italy’s Istituto Auxologico Italiano and an expert on life-threatening heart defects caused by mutations of the CALM genes.

“When Schwartz replied, his email held a bombshell: He had just published a paper reviewing the International Calmodulin Registry, a large, collaborative effort to enlist every person with a disease-causing mutation in the CALM genes. One family, he wrote, had variant in another CALM gene that looked almost identical to the Folbigg mutation. In this family, two children had suffered cardiac arrest at ages 4 and 5, and one of them had died. Their mother, from whom they inherited the mutation, was seemingly healthy.”

However, the Sydney team “seemed to have made their minds up and were not willing to accept this new evidence”.

Wired writes: “Reginald Blanch, the judicial officer presiding over the inquiry, was left with a decision to make. The Sydney team and the Canberra team had submitted conflicting expert opinions. When Blanch
delivered his decision in July of 2019, his language was unmistakably subjective.”

The night Vinuesa read the inquiry report, she couldn’t believe it. In the middle of the night, she woke up weeping.

“She thought about Folbigg: If this woman was in fact innocent, her suffering must be beyond comprehension,” Wired notes.

There was only one option left: to petition the governor of New South Wales to enact the Royal Prerogative of Mercy. In other words, to grant Kathleen a pardon. In March, Folbigg’s legal team drafted the petition and sent it to eminent scientists around the world to sign. So far, they have collected more than 100 signatures, including from several of the world’s leading cardiac geneticists and two Nobel laureates.

“The petition—like the appeals that came before it—argues that the new evidence on the CALM2 variant raises reasonable doubt about Folbigg killing all four of her children. To keep Folbigg in prison would
be to establish a dangerous precedent, ‘as it means that cogent medical and scientific evidence can simply be ignored in preference to subjective interpretations of circumstantial evidence.

“The petition awaits review in the office of the New South Wales attorney general, Mark Speakman. Vinuesa and many of her peers insist the science is clear—CALM2 is now in the medical literature as a genetic cause of SIDS. The investigation of Folbigg’s DNA had helped to advance scientific knowledge. But Folbigg’s own fate remains uncertain.

Vinuesa finally met Kathleen earlier this year and admits she couldn’t help but feel she had let her down.

“Vinuesa told Folbigg she had hoped to say goodbye on a happier note,” Wired writes. “Folbigg told her that the petition alone had improved her life in prison. After it became public, she said, she received a letter from
other inmates telling her she was now welcome to join them in the main section of the prison. They believed her to be innocent.”

Click here to read the full Wired article.

Professor Carola has also spoken on UK radio about the case.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

New documentary on the way

Additionally, another documentary is about to be commissioned in Denmark on the case, which will start filming here in early February, as the eyes of the world begin to focus on this terrible miscarriage of justice.

It follows the two-part Discovery Channel/BBC documentary released in November: The Baby Killer Conspiracy.

It tells the story of three mothers who were given life sentences based on one man’s killer statistic. Now one of these women is dead, one is free and one, Kathleen, is still in prison.

In 1998, Professor Sir Roy Meadows stated that unless proven otherwise, the chances of three babies from the same mother dying of natural causes were 1 in 73 million. After British solicitor Sally Clark suffered the devastating loss of her second baby, Meadows’ Law was used to arrest and convict her of murdering both of her children. In 2002, supermarket worker Angela Cannings was also jailed after the death of her third child. In what can only be described as a modern-day witch hunt, Meadows’ Law set a  default position that multiple infant deaths in one family is so rare that it had to be murder, and was used to arrest grieving mothers across the world and presented in Kathleen’s trial.

Meadows’ evidence was eventually discredited and Sally Clark was freed.

Although she never got her life back, her release contributed to three other British mothers having their convictions overturned.

Clare Laycock, SVP Planning & Insights, Head of Entertainment at Discovery, said it was an important and gripping documentary series that confronts the devastating miscarriages of justice still impacting women today.

PICTURED MAIN: ART BY MARIE SMITH, VIA WIRED

Associate Professor of Linguistics at Macquarie University David Butt has told 60 Minutes he believes it is not reasonable to claim that Kathleen Folbigg’s diaries support only one ‘damning’ interpretation.

Butt said he did not subscribe to the belief that the diaries are a “virtual confession”. He added that his conclusion after reading the diaries was that there was reasonable doubt. He suggested the police and prosecutors should have approached her case with the mandate of “innocent until proven guilty”.

“If you start out with the presumption of guilt, you can find it,” he cautioned.

Butt was among four leading experts who analysed Folbigg’s diaries have formally submitted their opinions to NSW Governor Margaret Beazley AC QC, and to NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman, as part of a petition originally lodged in March – and which has now been backed by 155 eminent scientists, science advocates and medical experts from around the world – calling for her to be pardoned and released.

“There is a likelihood that the courts and Inquiry have misinterpreted the feelings of responsibility for not being a better mother as admissions of agency in the deaths of the children,” he noted in the formal submission.

“I am comfortable in describing Ms Folbigg as having been a very loving and attentive mother …,” psychotherapist Dr Kamal Touma said.

“After reading and analysing the minute particulars of Ms Folbigg’s diaries and having met her for five analytical psychotherapy sessions, I cannot see anything in the diaries or from my sessions with Ms Folbigg to indicate that she harmed her children.”

Dr Touma had five audiovisual consultations with Folbigg and concluded that “the painful aloneness of being dissociated with and from her feelings is illustrated by this simple heartbreaking entry in her diary the day her daughter Sarah died: MONDAY 30: SARAH LEFT US.”

But Dr Touma rejects the notion that she may have killed her children in severe dissociative, fugue like states.

“Nowhere in the diaries nor in my conversation with Ms Folbigg was this observable,” he said. “I can comfortably exclude this hypothesis.”

When Dr Touma spoke to Folbigg, he was struck by how she spoke about her children.

“A written transcript cannot reflect what we may call the ‘musicality’ of the moment where immersed in associative thinking she talked about her children. This is the true memories she keeps of her children and wasn’t since losing them able to access to express. This is not how a murderous mother would ever talk about her children,” he said.

A second expert, US-based psychologist and textual analyst Professor James W. Pennebaker, who has helped the FBI and CIA understand the language of kidnappers, terrorists and violent criminals, said: “I see absolutely no evidence to suggest that these were premeditated murders.

“I see no evidence that Kathleen Folbigg’s language … exhibited any signs of deception or attempts to cover anything up. I also see no sign that Folbigg is mentally unstable or is someone harbouring buried hostility or rage,” Prof Pennebaker said.

A third expert, consultant psychiatrist Associate Professor Janine Stevenson, said: “Nowhere in her journals does she use agency verbs, such as ‘I hurt her’ … Throughout the journal Ms Folbigg is detailing all the steps she took to ensure the safety of her children. There is no anger, no aggression, only self-doubt.”

Watch Butt’s interview below:

Kathleen Folbigg has spent 18 years behind bars on the basis of discredited evidence and presumptions about her diaries that are not supported by experts. It’s time for the NSW justice system to admit it made a mistake.

Sign our petition here: https://www.change.org/p/mark-speakman-attorney-general-mark-speakman-release-kathleen-folbigg-now

A leading forensic pathologist who examined the evidence in Kathleen Folbigg’s case and found no proof that she had killed her children has called for the establishment of a Criminal Cases Review Commission.

In 2015, Melbourne-based Professor Stephen Cordner concluded that: “There is no positive forensic pathology support for the contention that any or all of these children have been killed.”

An article co-authored by Kerry Breen, Stephen Cordner and David Weisbrot for John Menadue’s Public Policy Journal suggests that an independent review body will buttress the courts, remedying miscarriages of justice by deciphering often complex expert evidence.

“Most Australians implicitly trust the Australian legal system to convict the guilty and acquit the innocent. Generally, that trust is well-earned, although cases where complex expert evidence is central can be problematic,” the co-authors state.

They point to the difficulty that judges and juries have in interpreting and weighing complex scientific and medical evidence, and the difficulty in determining the reliability of that evidence.

“Such a weakness was at the heart of the worst miscarriages of justice seen in Australia,” they state, pointing to  “current disquiet over the continued incarceration of Kathleen Folbigg in New South Wales”.

A Criminal Cases Review Commission was established in the UK 25 years ago, following a series of disturbing miscarriages of justice. The CCRC provides a specialist independent mechanism for thorough review of convictions after the completion of all appeals, but where concerns continue or emerge.

“In our view, Australia urgently needs to establish its own CCRC at arms’ length from courts and politicians,” they write. “It is simply not fair that, for example, Folbigg’s future now rests formally with the NSW governor, acting on the advice of the NSW attorney-general.”

We agree – it is devastating that Kathleen remains behind bars, with her fate in the hands of elected politicians who, as Professor Cordner (above) writes, are “subject to the tempests of public opinion”.

We stand with these respected medical and legal professionals in calling for Australia to establish a CCRC and call for the scientific evidence in Kathleen’s case to be considered ahead of public opinion.

Kathleen has spent 18 years behind bars on the basis of discredited evidence. It’s time for the NSW justice system to admit it made a mistake.

Click here to read the full article

Journalist Quentin McDermott has revealed that the diaries used to convict Kathleen Folbigg may hold the key to overturning her convictions.

He writes in an article published in The Australian that four leading experts have come forward to contradict the long-held view that the diaries were a “virtual” admission by Folbigg of guilt to murdering her children, Patrick, Sarah, Laura, and for the manslaughter of her firstborn, Caleb, who died between 1989 and 1999.

They have formally submitted their opinions to NSW Governor Margaret Beazley AC QC, and to NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman.

Psychotherapist Dr Kamal Touma said: “I am comfortable in describing Ms Folbigg as having been a very loving and attentive mother … After reading and analysing the minute particulars of Ms Folbigg’s diaries, and having met her for five analytical psychotherapy sessions, I cannot see anything in the diaries or from my sessions with Ms Folbigg to indicate that she harmed her children.”

A second expert, US-based psychologist and textual analyst, Professor James W. Pennebaker, who has helped the FBI and CIA understand the language of kidnappers, terrorists and violent criminals, said: “I see absolutely no evidence to suggest that these were premeditated murders.

“I see no evidence that Kathleen Folbigg’s language … exhibited any signs of deception or attempts to cover anything up. I also see no sign that Folbigg is mentally unstable or is someone harbouring buried hostility or rage.”

A third expert, consultant psychiatrist Associate Professor Janine Stevenson, said: “Nowhere in her journals does she use agency verbs, such as ‘I hurt her’ … Throughout the journal Ms Folbigg is detailing all the steps she took to ensure the safety of her children. There is no anger, no aggression, only self-doubt.”

And a fourth expert, associate professor of linguistics Professor David Butt, said: “There is a likelihood that the courts and inquiry have misinterpreted the feelings of responsibility for not being a better mother as admissions of agency in the deaths of the children.”

Solicitor Rhanee Rego and barrister Robert Cavanagh said this week: “Experts now say that the diaries cannot be taken as confessions of murder or harm to any of her children. The only consideration is reasonable doubt.

“Every argument that has been used to suggest the guilt of Ms Folbigg has now been overcome and her convictions are untenable.

“Now no reasonable person can conclude that Ms Folbigg’s guilt is established beyond reasonable doubt,” they said.

“It’s time for Mark Speakman to recommend to the Governor that Kathleen Folbigg be released.”

In a statement, the Attorney-General said: “These materials are voluminous and complex. They will be subject to thorough consideration. It would be inappropriate to provide further comment at this stage.”

Read McDermott’s full article by clicking here.

Leading Australian scientists have renewed their call for Kathleen Folbigg’s pardon and release from jail following a special report by 60 Minutes.

Despite conclusive scientific and medical evidence that points to natural causes of death for all four of her children, Kathleen remains incarcerated, more than 18 years after she was sent to jail.

The renewed call comes six months after 90 eminent scientists submitted a petition to the Governor of NSW, the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC, who awaits advice from the NSW Attorney-General, Mark Speakman.

In April, the Australian Academy of Science offered to facilitate for the NSW Attorney-General a briefing by scientists with expertise in genetics and statistics, to explain the new genetic evidence that had been uncovered.

The NSW Attorney-General declined that briefing and instead requested the new evidence be submitted via Kathleen’s legal representatives, which occurred in June.

This includes new peer-reviewed genetic findings by an international team of 27 scientists published in a top international cardiology journal, Europace, in November 2020. It showed two of the children had genetic mutations that predisposed them to sudden death in childhood from lethal heart arrythmias. Forensic pathologists had declared natural causes of death for the other two children.

Australian Academy of Science President, Professor John Shine is among the petition signatories and says there is very reasonable doubt about Kathleen’s conviction.

“The NSW Attorney-General now has sufficient medical and scientific evidence before him that provides an alternative explanation for the deaths of the Folbigg children, that carries more weight than the circumstantial evidence used to convict her,” Professor Shine noted in a statement on science.org.au.

“Our offer to the NSW Attorney-General to facilitate a scientific briefing stands. These matters can appear complex to a non-scientific audience.

“We also call on the federal and state and territory attorneys general to consider legal reform that would empower the judiciary to identify the most qualified expert to provide evidence for any given case.

“To ensure miscarriages of justice like this are prevented in the future, it is imperative that evidence heard by the courts is accurate; is delivered by the most qualified expert; and draws on the most up-to-date science. This is particularly important in rapidly moving areas such as human genetics.

“We urge the NSW Attorney-General to expedite this matter and advise the NSW Governor to pardon Kathleen Folbigg and release her from jail,” Professor Shine said.

Petition signatory Australian Nobel Laureate and Corresponding Member of the Australian Academy of Science, Professor Elizabeth Blackburn said it was profoundly wrong to deny justice by denying science.

“Do those who would deny Kathleen Folbigg’s right to scientific evidence deny that the planet Earth revolves around the sun?” said Professor Blackburn.

Watch the 60 Minutes story in which the science behind the case is explored.

Sign the petition to release Kathleen now!

Justice For Kathleen Folbigg has create a petition on Change.org to support Kathleen’s immediate release.

Her case is not just about one woman who has been imprisoned for crimes she did not commit; it is also about fighting for the criminal legal system to listen to science and supports calls for the legal and scientific communities to work more closely together to ensure evidence placed before the courts is reliable and accurately presented and understood by all those involved in such cases.

To get the conversation started, please share the petition and use the hashtag #JusticeforKathleenFolbigg

Click here to sign and share: https://www.change.org/p/mark-speakman-attorney-general-mark-speakman-release-kathleen-folbigg-now

If you need help to sign, here’s a link to some helpful instructions: https://help.change.org/s/article/How-to-sign-a-petition?language=en_US

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Kathleen Folbigg was a loving mother of four children; Caleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura. On May 23, 2003, she was found guilty by jury of the murder of Patrick, Sarah and Laura, and guilty of the manslaughter of Caleb, in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

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The media ; Australina/Chinese writer espionage charges in China

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The media ; Australina/Chinese writer espionage charges in China

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Yang Hengjun a prominent writer and often critical of the Chinese Government was charged for Espionage in August 2020 But was detained in 2019 by police and then taken into custody on December 2019 under "residential surveillance at a designated location". With no evidence, and Yang Hengjun denying all charges, it appears to be politically motivated protection, Held in inhumane conditions and countless interrogations with restricted access to lawyers and only allowed access to Australian consular officials and his lawyers eight months later after being detained. The Australian government responded to this after it was brought to light by the media and contacted China to allow its officials to be given access to Yang’s trial as “a basic standard of justice”..

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Ahead of the trial in Beijing of Australian-Chinese writer Yang Hengjun on charges of espionage, the head of Amnesty International's China Team, Joshua Rosenzweig, said:

"Yang Hengjun has been detained on totally baseless allegations that he is a spy, and the Chinese authorities must ensure that his trial meets international fair trial standards.

"The charges against Yang appear to be a politically motivated prosecution for articles he wrote that were critical of the Chinese government. This is an outrageous attack on his right to freedom of expression.

"Having reportedly endured hundreds of interrogations and been held in inhumane conditions with severely restricted access to his lawyer, Yang now faces an unfair trial behind closed doors. He remains at grave risk of torture and other ill-treatment.

"Yang's case is yet more proof that incommunicado detention, coercive interrogations, secret hearings and the flagrant denial of fair trial guarantees on nebulous charges are part of the Chinese authorities' routine repertoire for targeting government critics and human rights activists.

"Unless China can provide concrete, credible and admissible evidence that Yang has committed an internationally recognized offence, he must be immediately released with all charges dropped."
Background
Yang Hengjun, a prominent writer and occasional critic of the Chinese government, goes on trial for espionage on 27 May 2021 after more than two years in detention. If found guilty, he faces a minimum of three years in prison and a maximum sentence of death if he is deemed to have "endangered national security with particularly serious harm to the country and the people".

Yang was initially detained by police in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in January 2019. He was then held under "residential surveillance at a designated location" before being taken into custody in December 2019. He was only allowed access to Australian consular officials and his lawyers eight months later, after being formally arrested on espionage charges in August 2020.

"Residential surveillance in a designated location" is a measure in Chinese law that, under certain circumstances, enables criminal investigators to hold individuals for up to six months outside the formal detention system in what can amount to a form of secret incommunicado detention.

According to media reports, Yang Hengjun said he had endured more than 300 interrogations by 30 different people, sometimes for hours at a time in the middle of the night.

Espionage is categorized as a crime of "endangering national security" under China's criminal law. Suspects in national security trials are regularly deprived of procedural rights normally afforded to ordinary suspects, including access to legal counsel of their choice and the right to a public hearing. Yang has denied all the espionage allegations against him.

The Australian government last week asked China to allow its officials to be given access to Yang's trial as "a basic standard of justice".

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China: Australian-Chinese writer held on baseless 'spying' charges must get fair trial

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Ahead of the trial in Beijing of Australian-Chinese writer Yang Hengjun on charges of espionage, the head of Amnesty International's China Team, Joshua Rosenzweig, said: "Yang Hengjun has been detained on totally baseless allegations that he is a spy, and the Chinese authorities must ensure that his trial meets international fair trial standards.

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Hospital's and Medical workers overwhelmed

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Hospital's and Medical workers overwhelmed

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Ever since covid began hospitals around Australia have been stretched thin of important resources that are urgently needed to keep the hospital running, along with many reports of nurses often working overtime everyday the HSU and media have been fighting for more pay, and more recognition of this issue to one of the most important government facility.

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Australians face ballooning waits from 24 hours up to several days to be admitted to hospital wards, as a combination of health worker shortages, surging Covid and flu cases and the legacy of pandemic backlogs means many hospitals have run out of beds to admit new patients.

"Bed block" - when a hospital is so full there are no beds to admit new patients so emergency departments become clogged - has been widely reported by health workers across several states, with health industry sources telling Guardian Australia wait times are expected to remain high throughout coming months.

Last week, while various states were announcing free flu vaccine programs in an attempt to reduce further strain on their health systems, the New South Wales health secretary, Susan Pearce, urged anyone needing medical care to first rely on general practitioners and the healthdirect service.

She warned that demand for emergency services would become so high that those needing life-saving care may not receive it if those with non-urgent issues continued to call for ambulances and turn up to emergency departments.

Guardian Australia is aware of one case at Sydney's St Vincent's hospital where an elderly man with dementia and other chronic health conditions presented at the emergency department on Saturday with a urinary tract infection and delirium, and while he received thorough treatment, was only admitted to a bed on the ward 72 hours later.

The man's son said that while beds in the emergency department were full, it was ultimately well-run, with patients spaced apart. However he said more mobile and younger patients were placed on beds in the corridors of the emergency department.

"Every [other] bed I saw was occupied by a very, very old person," the son said.

Meanwhile, the Guardian was contacted by a woman in Queensland who claims her 83-year-old mother died after she was turned away from her local hospital late at night with a chest infection because there were no beds.

"It was not Covid but she was very unwell ... Her neighbour found her alone and dead the next morning," the woman, who asked not to be identified, said.

"My mum could have been saved - how many more are there like her? How many of us who have been through this need to tell our stories to back up what the medical staff are saying about the bed block crisis?"

In Victoria, ambulances have reportedly been banked up outside Melbourne emergency rooms, with patients in waiting areas requiring IV drips but not having space to be admitted.

Sign up to receive the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning.

The Guardian has previously reported how in Sydney a patient with a suspected heart attack who also had Covid was told by a 000 operator to call an Uber to get to the hospital, only to be told by hospital staff when they arrived to wait outside in the rain for a bed.

Michael Whaites, the acting assistant general secretary of the NSW branch of the Nurses and Midwives' Association, said "members are telling us it is the worst it has ever been even with the three Covid peaks".

"There's increased demand for beds, but also increased acuity of patients, so people aren't moving out as quickly as they normally would, and there's also less staff to care for them, so it's taking longer for them to be ready to be released from hospital."

"We're hearing patients waiting for 24 hours to be admitted to a bed in a hospital," he said, adding this should normally be no more than four hours.

Whaites said there are many factors behind the spiralling demand for hospital services, including ongoing Covid transmission.

"We're still seeing more than a thousand people a day admitted to hospitals due to Covid, and somehow as a society we've normalised that figure and expect our existing hospitals and staffing to cope with that as well as everything else," he said. "There's just an assumption we can have thousands more patients in hospital each day and that the system will cope."

Whaites said while intensive care units are not as busy as during the Covid peaks, pressure points at hospitals are now in general wards and emergency departments.

"On top of everything, we've got an attempt to catch up on all of the elective surgery backlog that built up over Covid, plus we're seeing about 2,000 staff a day on furlough across the state due to illness.

"We're also seeing a lot of people with chronic illnesses, who put off treatment because they were scared of contracting Covid during the peaks, now becoming a bit crooker because of that neglect."

Whaites said some Sydney hospitals "just don't have any beds and don't have the room for more beds", and that at other smaller hospitals, while they may have spare beds, staff shortages mean patients cannot be admitted to them because there is no one to care for them.

"Bed block was a problem before Covid, but it's exacerbated now. The cracks in the public health system we had before Covid have grown into massive caves."

He said many health staff had left the industry in recent months due to poor working conditions and pay that became less tolerable during the pandemic, and criticised the state government's distribution of resources and funding throughout the sector.

"There has been an underinvestment in the workforce," he said.
Do you know more about hospital pressure? Contact elias.visontay@theguardian.com

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Australians in hospital emergency departments waiting days for ward beds as health system overwhelmed

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Australians face ballooning waits from 24 hours up to several days to be admitted to hospital wards, as a combination of health worker shortages, surging Covid and flu cases and the legacy of pandemic backlogs means many hospitals have run out of beds to admit new patients.

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Jack Mundey came to Sydney in 1951 as a professional footballer and played rugby league for Parramatta for three years. He worked as a builder’s labourer and became an outspoken and active leader of the Builders’ Labourers Federation (BLF)Mundey was a committed environmentalist and was a national councillor with the Australian Conservation Foundation for 11 years. The Green Bans movement that he led saved many inner-urban tenants of low-cost rental homes from eviction and whole communities from disruption and dislocation. He continued to be involved in environment and urban issues and opposed threats to historic Sydney sites. Jack Mundey was elected to Sydney Council as representative of Gipps Ward on 14 April 1984 and served until 1987. He was chairman of the Planning committee from May 1984 to September 1985. He was a member of the Communist Party and served as an Independent member of the Residents Action Group.
he saved heritage areas in Sydney and stopped developers building on heritage builds and kills culture

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Family background

Jack Mundey, christened John Bernard Mundey, was born in North Queensland, one of five children of a share farmer on the Atherton Tablelands. In September 1961, his first wife Stephanie (nee Lennon, born 1939) died from a cerebral tumour when she was 22 years old. Their only son Michael had been born 15 months earlier, in 1960. In 1965, Mundey married lawyer Judith (Judy) Ann (b.1944), daughter of John Willcocks and Phyllis Rimmer. Judy became national president of the Communist Party of Australia from 1979 to 1982. Jack's son Michael died in a car accident in 1982 when he was 22 years old. Jack Mundey died on 10 May 2020.

Occupation & interests

Jack Mundey came to Sydney in 1951 as a professional footballer and played rugby league for Parramatta for three years. He worked as a builder's labourer and became an outspoken and active leader of the Builders' Labourers Federation (BLF). He was secretary of the NSW branch of the BLF from 1968 to 1975. In the 1970s, he formed and led the Green Ban movement which preserved many of Sydney's historic sites from demolition and saved the inner-city suburbs of Woolloomooloo and The Rocks from unfettered development. Internal dissension within the Builders' Labourers Federation led to his expulsion and meant he was not able to work on building sites for many years. In July 1995, he was appointed Chair of the NSW Historic Houses Trust. He has lectured extensively and published prolifically on urban conservation. Mundey had no formal tertiary education but in 1998 he was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science from the University of NSW and an honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of WA for his role in the conservation movement.

Community activity

Mundey was a committed environmentalist and was a national councillor with the Australian Conservation Foundation for 11 years. The Green Bans movement that he led saved many inner-urban tenants of low-cost rental homes from eviction and whole communities from disruption and dislocation. He continued to be involved in environment and urban issues and opposed threats to historic Sydney sites.

Local government service

Jack Mundey was elected to Sydney Council as representative of Gipps Ward on 14 April 1984 and served until 1987. He was chairman of the Planning committee from May 1984 to September 1985. He was a member of the Communist Party and served as an Independent member of the Residents Action Group.

References

Tony Stephens, 'Turn of phrase made 'green' a rallying cry that saved heritage', Sydney Morning Herald, 11 May 2020, https://www.smh.com.au/national/turn-of-phrase-made-green-a-rallying-cry-that-saved-heritage-20200511-p54rve.html

Burgmann, Meredith and Verity 1999, Green bans, red union: environmental activism & the New South Wales Builders Labourers' Federation, University of New South Wales Press, Sydney.

Colman, James 2016, The house that Jack built, NewSouth Publishing, Coogee, NSW.

Golder, Hilary 2004, Sacked: removing and remaking the Sydney City Council 1853-1988, City of Sydney.

Mundey, Jack 1981, Green bans and beyond, Angus & Robertson, Sydney

'Green Banners hail their hero', Sydney Morning Herald, 23 November 1981, https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/from-the-archives-1981-green-banners-hail-their-hero-20191023-p533ii.html

Australian Biography: Jack Mundey, Film Australia, broadcast 2000, https://www.australianbiography.gov.au/subjects/mundey/index.html

Sydney Oral Histories website, interview with Jack Mundey by Siobhán McHugh, 2015, https://www.sydneyoralhistories.com.au/jack-mundey

Stephanie Fay Veronica (Lennon) Mundey (1939 - 1961), https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Lennon-1294

City of Sydney Archives: Aldermen's Files

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Jack Mundey, christened John Bernard Mundey, was born in North Queensland, one of five children of a share farmer on the Atherton Tablelands. In September 1961, his first wife Stephanie (nee Lennon, born 1939) died from a cerebral tumour when she was 22 years old.

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The Government has cut the budget of the ABC, the amount has started at $783 million. They need 150,000 signed petitions for the government to fully fund the ABC once again. This cut of budgets has cost many their jobs and also less shows that informed the public of certain going on's in the community. Such as fewer episodes of Four Corners, Foreign Correspondent and Australian Story.

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When Amnesty started campaigning against the death penalty back in 1977, only 16 countries had abolished it. As of April 2021, 108 countries have abolished the  it in law or practice – a trend that must continue. Unfortunately while the abolitionist movement has made significant progress over that time, the countries that still execute are doing so at alarming rates.

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In brief

Whatever form it takes – hanging, lethal injection, beheading, stoning or electrocution – the death penalty is a violent punishment that has no place in today’s criminal justice system.

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Who’s responsible?

In 2020, while the world was focused on saving lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, some countries were busy taking lives.

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What we’re asking

Amnesty is calling for countries that still use the death penalty to immediately halt all executions, countries that have stopped executing people to permanently remove this punishment for all crimes, and for all death sentences to be commuted to prison sentences.

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What's the latest

At least 483 people were known to have been executed in 2020.

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Global abolition in reach

Every and every day we come closer to a world without the death penalty.

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Take Action Now

YOUR KIND SUPPORT WILL SAVE LIVES

BECOME A HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER TODAY

Your regular gift can help save the life of someone on death row and fund vital work to abolish the death penalty worldwide.

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Our Wins

Our movement changes lives. We celebrate the small wins, and the big moments because we know that every step our world takes away from injustice, is a step closer to a world in which human rights are enjoyed by all.

Good news: Death sentence of mentally ill prisoner commuted in Malaysia

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The use of the death penalty is cruel, inhumane and degrading. Amnesty International is opposed to its use, for any reason.

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Vincent Lingiari (1919?-1988), Aboriginal stockman and land rights leader, was born in 1919, according to government records, at Victoria River Gorge, Northern Territory, son of Gurindji parents.  Both his mother and his father, also Vincent Lingiari, were employed on the 3500-sq. mile (9065 km²) Vestey-owned cattle station, Wave Hill, established in 1883 by Nathaniel Buchanan.  Called Tommy Vincent by his employers, he received no formal education.  Aged about 12 he was absorbed into the station work at the stock camps, where cattle from the 80,000 herd were mustered, branded and drafted into mobs of 1200 bullocks to be driven to meatworks at Port Darwin.

Although Lingiari became a head stockman at Wave Hill, he initially received no cash payment.  The first time that he handled money was in about 1953 when he lined up with the other stockmen at the Negri River races and was given £5 pocket-money.  At the same time, he was becoming a highly respected Gurindji 'law boss'.

On 23 August 1966, tired of the Aborigines being 'treated like dogs' in their own country, Lingiari led two hundred of his people, employees of Wave Hill station, with their families, in a 'walk-off'.  Encouraged by Brian Manning and a Roper River Aboriginal man, Dexter Daniels, both of the North Australian Workers Union, he demanded better pay and rations, and protection of the Aboriginal women.  The group camped in the bed of the Victoria River and later moved to Daguragu, known to non-Aborigines as Wattie Creek.  The Gurindji strike was to last nine years, the longest in Australian history.

Influenced by Daniels and the film actor Robert Tudawali (both members of the Northern Territory Council for Aboriginal Rights), and by the writer Frank Hardy, Lingiari was happy to add his voice to the emerging cause of 'land rights'.  In April 1967 the Gurindji sent a petition to the governor-general, R. G. (Lord) Casey, asking that their tribal land be returned to them so that they could establish their own cattle station.  Lingiari, Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Ted Egan recorded Gurindji Blues in 1971.  Proceeds from the sale of 20,000 copies were divided between the Gurindji people and the Aboriginal tent embassy, Canberra.  Lingiari introduced the song with the words:

My name Vincent Lingiari. Come from Daguragu, Wattie Creek Station . . . I have come here to tell the Parliament about the land rights. I got stories from my old grandpa that the land belonged to me, Aboriginal man, before all the horses and cattle came onto that land. I’ve got that story on my mind.

In anticipation of achieving their objective, the Gurindij formed in March 1971 the Muramulla Gurindji Co.  To raise money to buy horses and erect fencing, Lingiari addressed members of the Waterside Workers’ Federation of Australia and of Abschol, a committee of the National Union of Australian University Students established to support university scholarships for Aboriginal students.  With the Gurindji elders Donald Nangiari and Lupgna (Captain Major), he visited Sydney and Melbourne to gain support for what was seen as a test case in land rights.  During the strike Lingiari occasionally allowed Aboriginal workmen to assist the Wave Hill manager.  In 1971 he worked as a ranger at Wattie Creek and also, from time to time, used his tracking skills to help Northern Territory police officers find missing persons or stolen cattle.

In March 1973 the newly elected Whitlam government reached an agreement with Lord Vestey to lease 3236 square kilometres of Wave Hill station to the Gurindji people for 'residential and cultural purposes and to depasture stock'.  On 16 August 1975 Gough Whitlam poured a handful of red soil into Lingiari’s hand to symbolise the legal transfer.  The Gurindji leader commented:  'Now we can all be mates'.  In 1986 the land was converted to freehold title.

Throughout the strike, Lingiari maintained a quiet dignity.  He was appointed AM in 1976.  In his later years, he became frail and almost blind.  Survived by his wife, Blanche Nangi, whom he had married tribally, and their six sons and two daughters, he died on 21 January 1988 at Daguragu and was buried with traditional honours.

The Lingiari Foundation was formed in 2001 to promote reconciliation and Indigenous rights and to develop Aboriginal leadership; the Vincent Lingiari memorial lecture is delivered annually in Darwin; and the songs From Little Things Big Things Grow, by Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody, and Old Vincent, by Ted Egan, honour his memory. A Northern Territory Federal electorate is named after him, and a memorial to him in Reconciliation Place, Canberra, was unveiled in May 2004.

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Interest Groups - Women's and Girl's rights in Australia

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Interest Groups - Women's and Girl's rights in Australia

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In recent weeks Grace Tame, Brittany Higgins and Dhanya Mani have been reminding us we have a lot to ensure that survivors of sexual assault have access to justice. They have created a petition that they are submitting to the Australian Government called the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. They are using forms of non legal methods to convey their message including social media, interest groups and members of parliament. - Imogen, Amelia and Mayla

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Trade unions encouraging workers such as nurses to go on strike. The union was forced to call the ballot because it can no longer contain mounting anger from health workers over chronic understaffing, constant overtime, and stagnant wages in the hospital system.

These longstanding issues have intersected with the current COVID surge, caused by the “let it rip” policies of Labor and Liberal governments, to create a catastrophe throughout the healthcare system.

The union also went against orders from the industrial relations commission (IRC) to call the action off.

Union officials met with department and ministerial officials on Monday to discuss the demands from nurses and midwives ahead of the strike.

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The New South Wales Nurse and Midwives' Association (NSWNMA) said yesterday a majority of public hospital nurses had voted in favour of statewide industrial action on February 15.

The union was forced to call the ballot last week because it can no longer contain mounting anger from health workers over chronic understaffing, constant overtime, and stagnant wages in the hospital system. These longstanding issues have intersected with the current COVID surge, caused by the "let it rip" policies of Labor and Liberal governments, to create a catastrophe throughout the healthcare system.

Nurses who have spoken out have made plain that their conditions are intolerable. One Sydney nurse explained in an interview with the WSWS yesterday that the situation in her hospital was "like something out of a movie. We sometimes look at each other and are gobsmacked and ask, is this really happening? Do we really have three patients on trolleys in the corridor right now with no beds? What if a medical episode happened with that patient? There is no equipment to use to assist that patient."

Guidelines were constantly changing, undermining the most basic infection controls, the nurse explained. Staff were being pressured to continually commit to overtime. And other essential hospital services were being wound back or cancelled altogether.

The NSWNMA bears central responsibility for the situation. It has signed one sell-out industrial agreement after another, allowing for the chronic understaffing and inadequate pay that nurses confront. The union has collaborated with governments throughout the pandemic and facilitated the profit-driven dismantling of all safety restrictions, which is overwhelming the hospitals.

The union has not held a statewide nurses' strike since July 2013. Over the past two years, the NSWNMA, along with the other health unions, has repeatedly shut down or refused to call strikes. The union isolated and divided up two stoppages last year, while sowing such confusion that many nurses did not know who was striking or when. At a protest last December over conditions, the union only mentioned the pandemic once.

The union is preparing a similar operation for February 15 if it does not seek to cancel the strike entirely as in the past.

Only NSWNMA members working in public hospitals with local branches of the union will be able to participate in the industrial action and each branch will decide separately whether to strike and for how long.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday that workers at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital may strike for 24 hours, while Westmead nurses will walk off the job for 12 hours, and at Liverpool and Blacktown hospitals, the action will be limited to 8 hours.

The strike is planned to centre around a protest rally outside NSW Parliament, along with demonstrations in other cities and towns across the state, including Newcastle, Coffs Harbour, Bathurst, Bega, Lismore and Tamworth.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) this morning stated "the whole union movement stands with you," a phrase it trots out whenever the unions are trying to subvert a strike. The ACTU, which claims millions of members, is not intending to mobilise a single one of them in support of the nurses. The reality is, every measure is being taken to divide workers, even within the same industry.

The NSWNMA has explicitly excluded aged care workers under conditions where more than 533 aged care residents died from the virus in the first five weeks of the year, and more than 5,400 residents and 6,500 staff are currently infected.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation yesterday held a protest of aged care workers outside Parliament House in Canberra which featured a host of Labor politicians and had more to do with electioneering than any effort to improve conditions for aged care staff or residents.

The primary criticism of the federal Liberal-National government was that it had acted too slowly in deploying the military to aged care facilities, which the union said it had been demanding for four weeks. The deployment of the army is being carried out to justify the refusal of governments to boost funding to aged-care, or any aspect of the health system, to intimidate staff and to further a broader turn to authoritarian measures amid widespread popular hostility to the "let it rip" program.

The NSWNMA's attempts to limit the duration and scope of the February 15 strike are based on the same rotten program of subordinating nurses to the big-business political parties and governments responsible for the crisis in the sector.

The union is directing nurses to plaintively appeal to the right-wing Liberal government of Premier Dominic Perrottet. The administration has been at the forefront of the homicidal "herd immunity" policies, which continue to be deepened, including with last week's reopening of the schools amid mass infections. Perrottet's government, moreover, is committed to the pro-business restructuring that the ruling elite demands accompany the "reopening," including a further onslaught on public healthcare and education.

Yet NSWNMA General Secretary Brett Holmes has politely called upon this very government "to commit to shift-by-shift ratios, decent and fair pay, and a COVID allowance," and encourages nurses to do the same. To call this a dead end is an understatement.

The NSWNMA has not specified what constitutes a "decent and fair" pay increase, only that it is "more" than the 2.5 percent rammed through by the union in previous years in line with the Labour Expenses Cap introduced by the state Labor government in 2008.

Holmes has bemoaned "nurses and midwives are now expected to cope with the underprepared consequences of a "let it rip" strategy." The union has not once challenged the dismantling of safety measures. It backed the government's changes to close contact rules last month, which forced potentially infected nurses to stay on the job. And the NSWNMA still does not call for the reintroduction of lockdowns or any other measures aimed at curbing transmission and thus ending the illness and death that is overwhelming the hospitals.

To the extent that the union opposes the government, it is from the standpoint of promoting illusions in the opposition Labor Party. But Labor has marched in lockstep with the NSW and federal governments in the "reopening" drive and has directly implemented it in states such as Victoria. Over the past three decades, moreover, NSW and federal Labor governments have presided over the gutting of the healthcare system, no less than their Liberal counterparts.

The aim of the NSWNMA and all of the other unions is to prevent the emergence of a political movement of the working class against the governments and parties responsible for the assault on healthcare and the catastrophic pandemic policies. The union represents the interests of a bureaucracy whose privileges, including substantial executive salaries, are based on the suppression of any struggle by workers in the interests of governments and big business.

The record demonstrates that for the February 15 strike to proceed, and for it to be broadened, nurses must begin to organise independently of the NSWNMA, including through the formation of their own rank-and-file committees. They must reach out to doctors and other health staff for a unified struggle. This should be broadened to teachers, who have been herded into unsafe classrooms, factory and warehouse workers, who have been hit with mass infections, and every other section of the working-class.

The fight for scientifically-grounded pandemic policies aimed at the elimination of the virus, and for decent wages and conditions, is a political struggle that must be directed against capitalism and all of its defenders. The Socialist Equality Party advances a socialist program for the establishment of workers' governments that would allocate trillions of dollars to public healthcare, including through an end to the massive military expenditure, and the nationalisation of the banks and major corporations under public ownership and democratic workers' control.

The SEP is holding a public meeting this Saturday, at 4 p.m. (AEDT), aimed at building support for the strike and discussing the issues that it poses. We urge nurses, health workers and other workers and young people to attend the meeting, share your experiences and take part in the discussion.

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Australia: New South Wales nurses vote for statewide strike

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The New South Wales Nurse and Midwives' Association (NSWNMA) said yesterday a majority of public hospital nurses had voted in favour of statewide industrial action on February 15. The union was forced to call the ballot last week because it can no longer contain mounting anger from health workers over chronic understaffing, constant overtime, and stagnant wages in the hospital system.

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The group walked some 30 kilometres from Wave Hill Station to Wattie Creek where they stayed in protest for nine long years. During the years of struggle and protest, which made headlines across the nation, Vincent Lingiari toured Australia to lobby politicians and galvanise support. Victory was achieved in 1975!

The nation witnessed the first piece of land, in the form of soil, being returned to First Nations hands when then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam ‘handed-back’ the land to Gurindji People.