Keeping Justice Alive

By Kema Rajandran.

 

“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke.

 

This is one of the many quotes that appear on Integrity and Justice Consultant, Barbara Etter’s business website, BEtter Consulting.  A business she developed after identifying the need following her early departure as the CEO of the new Tasmanian Integrity Commission.

 

The company’s vision is ‘Be Your Best – Integrity, Justice and Humanity’. This call to action that Etter upholds applies to individuals, organisations and society in general.

 

It should come of no surprise that Etter has a passion for integrity, with 30 years of distinguished police service with the NSW, NT and WA Police, as well as roles at the national level; Etter was also awarded the Australian Police Medal (APM) in 2008.

 

“I believe that it is important that we know what we stand for and what our values are and that we live consistently with those values, in both our personal and professional lives,” Etter said.

 

“One particularly important role for the Integrity and Justice Consultant, in relation to complex criminal cases or possible miscarriage of justice issues, is to fill any gap or void between clients and lawyers. Such matters may include forensic evidence spanning many fields of forensic science.”

 

Her journey at BEtter Consulting started with reviewing the case against convicted murderer Susan Blyth Neill-Fraser.

 

Neill-Fraser is currently serving a 26-year jail term for the murder of her partner, Bob Chappell. Hobart Supreme Court judge Alan Blow said he was convinced Neill-Fraser attacked Mr Chappell on board their yacht and dumped his body in the river. Found guilty by a jury in late 2010, she has sustained her innocence.

 

Etter says that as Mr Chappell’s body had never been found and there had been no confessions or direct forensic evidence it was an unusual case.

 

“I am working closely with Sue Neill-Fraser’s legal team with a view to also presenting a petition for mercy to the Tasmanian Attorney-General in the near future on new and fresh evidence,” she said.

 

Tight lipped on the evidence, Etter did divulge that she has uncovered new information which, subject to legal advice, she will reveal in her book Murderers Amongst Us, due to be launched in August this year.

 

“The plan is to launch it at a public forum designed to ‘kick off’ an Innocence Project here in Tasmania, drawing on models within Australia and overseas. I found the International Justice Conference held in Perth in March 2012 particularly inspiring and an invaluable networking forum.”

 

“Innocence Projects are springing up all around the world. In fact, experts in this area talk about the growth of the “Innocence Movement”, a basic Human Rights issue. It would be unwise to think that Tasmania is immune from the diverse causal factors that have led to many proven wrongful convictions of the innocent around the world.”

 

Having recently finished her first true crime book manuscript based on my review of Neill-Fraser’s murder conviction, she has found that the role is evolving into an important public advocacy role.

 

Having presented at over 60 conferences, majority in relation to leadership, integrity, ethics and many times interlinking those topics to women, Etter believes better gender equity and diversity are key strategies that should be employed by any organisation to ensure a diversity of skills, thinking and experience.

 

“I am always keen to encourage more women to pursue their personal goals, whatever they may be. There should not be unfair restrictions prohibiting women from entering any profession or industry, if they are capable of performing the relevant tasks.”

A lady of uprightness with many passions, she has been happily married for 20 years and supports AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe, a young boy in Africa through World Vision and sponsors three children in Bali. She also enjoys painting in water colours and acrylics.

 

She was a President of the WA Police Sports Federation for four years and nabbed a gold medal in the Toughest Competitor Alive event at the Australian and New Zealand Police Games in 2004, showing that she is strong not only in the mind and with her values but also physically.

 

“I believe that work is just one small but important part of our existence and that in the end it is about family, friendships and the relationships in our lives that really count. My aim in life is to live, love, learn and leave a legacy!”