Close Menu
Honi Soit
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Trending
    • On Art and Bearing Witness: Ahmed and Sakr on the Nightmare Sequence
    • No Soap in the Box
    • “USyd you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide”: Post-SGM Palestine Rally
    • A meditation on God and the impossible pursuit of answers
    • Week 11 Editorial
    • Losing My Religion: Elegies from an Atheist who desperately wants to believe in God
    • The Islamic Spirituality of Romanticising your Life
    • Loss, to which I return often.
    • About
    • Print Edition
    • Student Journalism Conference 2025
    • Writing Comp
    • Advertise
    • Locations
    • Contact
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) TikTok
    Honi SoitHoni Soit
    Thursday, May 15
    • News
    • Analysis
    • Culture
    • Opinion
    • University
    • Features
    • Perspective
    • Investigation
    • Reviews
    • Comedy
    • Student Journalism Conference 2025
    Honi Soit
    Home»News

    Families of Bowraville murder victims demand justice now

    Families of Bowraville murder victims continue to remain in a state of limbo in their quest to seek justice
    By Anie KandyaSeptember 29, 2019 News 3 Mins Read
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    Crowds gathered outside Sydney Town Hall on Sunday afternoon, demanding justice for the three First Nations victims of the Bowraville murders and their families, 29 years after the murders occurred.

    Protesters’ cries of, “Mark Speakman hear us loud, we demand justice now!” rang through the streets of Sydney CBD, in a plea to urge the NSW Attorney General to act on the recommendations of a recent NSW Upper House inquiry quickly, and push for legislation that would allow for a retrial of the cases of the Bowraville murders.

    Evelyn Greenup (4), Clinton Speedy-Duroux (16) and Colleen Walker (16) all disappeared from their hometown of Bowraville in northern NSW within a five-month period in 1990. While Clinton and Evelyn’s remains were later found in the area, Colleen remains missing.

    The sole suspect of the crimes, a non-Indigenous man, was acquitted of both Clinton and Evelyn’s murders in 1994 and 2006, and the families have spent years fighting for the man to be retried, even taking the cases to the High Court, all to no avail.

    Photo of the protest going along George Street
    Speakers addressed the failure of the justice system and the mistreatment of the victims’ families throughout the process of seeking justice for their loved ones. Colleen Walker’s nephew spoke of how Colleen’s mother was told by police that Colleen was “too lightskin” to be her daughter when she reported her as missing. Given how little help the police were, families and communities were forced to go out in search for their own missing children.

    The speeches also highlighted the clear racial discrimination present in the treatment of these cases, with First Nations activist Gavin Stanbrook pointing out, “if [the victims] had been three white children in the northern suburbs of Sydney, justice would have been swift and would have been served within days.” Later, protesters’ cries of “black lives matter” would echo this sentiment, reinforcing how little concern First Nations people’s deaths are regarded with by the Australian justice system.

    It was evident that the treatment of these victims and their families is a signifier of a broader problem within Australia, regarding First Nations deaths remaining under-investigated and under-reported on, especially when compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. Attendees of the rally were encouraged to remedy this discrepancy by posting their support with ‘#JusticeForBowraville’ on social media. The hashtag was trending on Twitter following the event.

    The rally was clear in its message – the injustices faced by the victims of the Bowraville murders and their families will only be remedied if community members and activists continue to put pressure on politicians, and our legal systems.

    Bowraville murders

    Keep Reading

    No Soap in the Box

    “USyd you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide”: Post-SGM Palestine Rally

    Where is the outrage?: National protest against gender-based violence

    HackWatch: Who Wants to be a Board Director?

    UniMelb Palestine solidarity encampment attempted relaunch met with repression

    Music festival strip searches class action begins

    Just In

    On Art and Bearing Witness: Ahmed and Sakr on the Nightmare Sequence

    May 15, 2025

    No Soap in the Box

    May 15, 2025

    “USyd you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide”: Post-SGM Palestine Rally

    May 14, 2025

    A meditation on God and the impossible pursuit of answers

    May 14, 2025
    Editor's Picks

    A meditation on God and the impossible pursuit of answers

    May 14, 2025

    We Will Be Remembered As More Than Administrative Errors

    May 7, 2025

    NSW universities in the red as plague of cuts hit students & staff

    April 30, 2025

    Your Compliance Will Not Save You

    April 16, 2025
    Facebook Instagram X (Twitter) TikTok

    From the mines

    • News
    • Analysis
    • Higher Education
    • Culture
    • Features
    • Investigation
    • Comedy
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Misc

     

    • Opinion
    • Perspective
    • Profiles
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Social
    • Sport
    • SRC Reports
    • Tech

    Admin

    • About
    • Editors
    • Send an Anonymous Tip
    • Write/Produce/Create For Us
    • Print Edition
    • Locations
    • Archive
    • Advertise in Honi Soit
    • Contact Us

    We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. The University of Sydney – where we write, publish and distribute Honi Soit – is on the sovereign land of these people. As students and journalists, we recognise our complicity in the ongoing colonisation of Indigenous land. In recognition of our privilege, we vow to not only include, but to prioritise and centre the experiences of Indigenous people, and to be reflective when we fail to be a counterpoint to the racism that plagues the mainstream media.

    © 2025 Honi Soit
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms
    • Accessibility

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.