Senator Steve Fielding - Leader of Family First
One year on Family First is still fighting for Britt Lapthorne
Posted by Senator Steve Fielding on September 17 2009 | 2 Comments
One year on, Australians are still seeking answers from the Croatian government surrounding the disappearance and death of Melbourne backpacker Britt Lapthorne.
In the Senate today Family First introduced a bill in Britt’s memory – the Britt Lapthorne Bill.
The bill is designed so no family has to go through the same obstacles that the Lapthornes did when Britt went missing.
The Lapthornes had all sorts of trouble with the Australian authorities in their search for Britt.
They weren’t notified until six days after that Britt went missing.
This is because the Australian authorities were constrained by privacy laws which prevented them from telling the family about Britt’s disappearance.
The Lapthornes also had troubles while in Croatia in gaining assistance in their search.
They came up against language barriers and had trouble in getting assistance from both Australian and Croatian authorities because there were no agreements in place to handle an issue like Britt’s.
One year on, Family First wants no other family to suffer what Britt Lapthorne’s family did, in having to fight so much bureaucratic red tape to investigate their daughter’s disappearance and death overseas.
We should learn the lessons from a year ago and make sure privacy laws don’t stand in the way of families being kept informed when loved ones are in trouble.
Our bill will fix the privacy laws so that families can be notified straight away if a loved one goes missing overseas and foul play is suspected.
The bill also requires the Government to provide all reasonable assistance to families when a loved one goes missing overseas, and to report on its progress in setting up agreements with other countries so that when an Australian goes missing there are procedures and expectations of what must be done to try and find them.
The Britt Lapthorne Bill gives peace of mind to those travelling overseas that our authorities will be quick to act and provide immediate support when something goes wrong.
Condolences to Britt’s family on their loss.
Having said that and hopefully whilst being sensitive and without sounding callous, Family First should put the shameful incident behind them and move on.
Without condoning what happened, it seems to me that Britt was leading a lifestyle that left her exposed; especially in Croatia (although there are other much worse places). The follow-up police actions were evidently inadequate (though probably par for the course).
It is highly unlikely that any further progress can be made in the case (as in, you can’t get blood from a stone). So it would be more beneficial for Australia to focus resources on present and future relations (for example, in developing circumstances such that similar incidents are less likely in future). If Britt’s family believe there is more to be gained, then fine, let them pursue it privately and re-engage Australia once new evidence of substance has been discovered.
In the meantime, as a member of the public, I get annoyed whenever I see the same old stuff being regurgitated; and wonder “With lots of other unsolved crimes around, why does she keep getting so much publicity?”.
Comment by MT Judd on 25 December 2009 at 09:28:47 PM
It’s pretty low, even for the completely self-serving, to use the death of a young Australian for such cyncial purposes. Your Mickey Mouse bill displays a complete lack of understanding of the Privacy Act 1988, which already provides for disclosures in a range of circumstances - though being correct and promoting good public policy wouldn’t get your banal little agenda in the press, would it.
Comment by Alex104 on 17 September 2009 at 10:52:42 PM