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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-11-17 Daily Xml
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Motions

Jenkins, Mrs A.

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. F. Pangallo:

That this council—

1. Notes the strong and enduring cultural, sporting, tourism and business ties South Australia and Adelaide continue to have with Malaysia, in particular the 48-year sister-city relationship with George Town, capital of Penang.

2. Recognises that Annapuranee 'Anna' Jenkins went missing on 13 December 2017 while she was on a family visit to George Town, Penang, Malaysia, and was reported missing the following day.

3. Calls for the Royal Malaysia Police, the Australian Federal Police, Interpol and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to:

(a) provide details of any formal investigations carried out into Mrs Jenkins' unexplained and sudden disappearance, and whether they are satisfied with the outcomes of those investigations;

(b) confirm the subsequent discovery of skeletal human remains and personal effects, identified as being those of Mrs Jenkins by a member of her own family, in June 2020 has been fully investigated, and that a suspicion of foul play/murder be fully examined;

(c) ensure a comprehensive excavation search of the area, and surrounding areas, where the human remains and personal effects were found is undertaken.

4. Calls on the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Marise Payne, to:

(a) contact the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato' Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob, and Malaysia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dato Saifuddin bin Abdullah, to ensure these actions contained in paragraph 3 are undertaken as a matter of urgency;

(b) demand the Malaysian government repatriate skeletal remains of Mrs Jenkins to South Australia Police for further forensic examination, along with all DNA reports, the post-mortem reports of the Police Report # 2519/2020 and relevant case notes.

5. Requests the President of the Legislative Council write to Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia, to express the concern of the Legislative Council of South Australia that the disappearance of Mrs Jenkins, an Australian national, may not have been properly investigated and request he refer the matter to the Royal Malaysian Police Inspector-General as an urgent and high priority.

6. Acknowledges the continuing trauma and distress this is causing Mrs Jenkins' husband, Frank, her children, Greg Jenkins and Jennifer Bowen, two grandchildren and extended families in such harrowing circumstances.

(Continued from 27 October 2021.)

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (21:18): I rise today to inform the council that Labor will be supporting the motion of the Hon. Frank Pangallo. With regard to the late hour, I have only a few comments to make. Our federal colleagues have been engaged in regard to the matter raised by the Hon. Mr Pangallo and his original comments on this matter.

We have had direct contact, I understand, with Greg Jenkins. The matter has been raised in a federal estimates hearing, and also we have been receiving regular consular briefings in regard to the matter. It goes without saying that we wish to express our sympathies to the Jenkins family, whose hurt and sadness in relation to this matter must be quite significant and incredible. I have nothing really further to add to the motion. I commend it to the council.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (21:20): I rise on behalf of the government to share the concerns of honourable members in relation to the disappearance of Anna Jenkins. There has been, as all members will appreciate, much publicity in relation to the case. The conduct of the Malaysian police has been called into question. The family of Mrs Jenkins has travelled to Malaysia to find their own answers.

The government amendments, which I will move in a moment, are not intended to take away from the significance of the case. Rather, they are intended to reflect its ongoing nature and the appropriate bodies to deal with it. The government notes that the Department of Foreign Affairs is in contact with Mrs Jenkins's family and continues to provide consular assistance. The government has been advised the Department of Foreign Affairs also continues to engage with Malaysian authorities, including the Royal Malaysia Police. The government is further advised that the circumstances of Mrs Jenkins's death are currently before the Coroners Court in Malaysia.

The government, again, expresses its sincere condolences to the Jenkins family. It acknowledges the continuing trauma and distress this is causing to Mrs Jenkins's husband, children, two grandchildren and extended families. I move to amend the motion as follows:

Leave out paragraph 3 and insert new paragraph as follows:

3. Notes the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is in contact with Mrs Jenkins's family, continues to provide consular assistance to Mrs Jenkins's family and is engaged with Malaysian authorities, including the Royal Malaysia Police in relation to Mrs Jenkins's disappearance;

Leave out paragraphs 4 and 5.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (21:21): I thank the contributors to my motion, the Hon. Justin Hanson and the Hon. Rob Lucas. After I raised the matter in parliament, the story has generated quite a deal of interest in the Australian media as well as overseas, notably Malaysia. The family of Mrs Anna Jenkins are here tonight once more, and I welcome Mrs Jenkins's son Greg, daughter Jen and grandkids Will and Henry. They have been overwhelmed by the amount of support they received here and in Malaysia.

It is just a pity that it had to take front-page news in the national newspaper and follow-up editorials by journalist David Penberthy, who highlighted the abject failure of the Royal Malaysia Police to investigate Anna's likely murder with any serious conviction, to elicit a tepid response from our own government through the office of Marise Payne, and that is where it has stalled, again. It was followed up with an excellent story by one of my former colleagues, Pippa Bradshaw, on the Nine Network's top-rated current affairs program A Current Affair.

For Malaysian police, this was an unwanted spotlight, yet it did at least get them off their backsides to hold a press conference addressing the concerns I have raised. I am now hearing reports that in Malaysia it is very difficult to access any media reports on this on the internet. There seems to be some attempt to try to black out any information about this case.

Penang police say they are waiting for the Coroners Court to fix an inquest date to look into the appearance and death of Mrs Jenkins. Penang police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said that the Penang prosecution director's office had on 14 October instructed for an inquest to be held. Why did it have to take three years? While it is a welcome if not belated move, it is not set in concrete yet.

Police only completed their investigation papers on the case, which was classified as sudden death, in August this year. Greg Jenkins says that statements still need to be taken from many people. So what is in their papers?

When I asked why it took a year after Mrs Jenkins' remains were found for the reports to complete, the police chief said that he is not the expert conducting tests for the report, so it is beyond his scope to reply. Again, it is not known if those tests are even accurate, which is why the family would like the remains sent here for proper professional analysis.

Mohd Shuhaily also stressed that based on the reports they could not find any criminal elements in the case. Of course they could not, because by the time they reacted the evidence and any potential witnesses had all but vanished. There was little chance of gathering useful intelligence; yet, he said the case was classified as a sudden death report and full investigations were conducted and police found no signs of foul play in the case. It is hard to comprehend or believe.

Mohd Shuhaily has welcomed detractors—and I guess he probably includes me in it—to meet police and discuss it with them. The Jenkins family has tried on so many occasions with little success but plenty of disappointment. I will quote Mohd Shuhaily who said, 'We can progress this way and Australia is an advanced country, maybe we can share experiences.' All I can say is that that is a poor excuse for their ineptitude. They do not have the proper resources to conduct the type of thorough investigation that is required, and that is where Australia can assist, which is why I have called for our Federal Police and Interpol to work with the Malaysians in this motion.

I want to refer to an article in the freemalaysiatoday.com site by Predeep Nambiar in which the group Citizens Against Enforced Disappearances' Rama Ramathan fully backed my complaints that Malaysian police were incompetent in their handling of Anna's case and, as it turns out, many others brought to their attention. Rama even said that the Malaysia Human Rights Commission (or Suhkam) had found the police were 'lackadaisical in looking into cases of missing persons'. He said Suhkam also found police officers had given false evidence during some cases of suspected abduction. He went on to say that an independent integrity body to investigate police complaints was sorely needed in that country.

I would like to address the Treasurer's amendments, which I totally reject, and I urge members in this chamber to reject them as well. It is disappointing that it is an attempt to essentially water down my criticism and calls for more strident action that is required to get the Jenkins family justice. This amendment is based on limp quotes given to The Australian by the office of Marise Payne. It attempts to portray that DFAT still has an active role, when the family say all they get are mere updates.

We need to show that we really do care about Anna Jenkins' fate and we want to see her family find some peace and justice, which has been denied so far. This is why I have insisted that we contact their government leaders, the Prime Minister, the foreign affairs minister and their King, because action is the urgent priority as the fourth anniversary of Anna's disappearance approaches.

Mr President, I have also asked that you write personally to them to lend the weight of the Parliament of South Australia. It was very effective when this chamber voted for a motion I moved more than two years ago that the then President, the Hon. Andrew McLachlan, write to the Norwegian parliament expressing our state's concerns over drilling for oil in the Great Australian Bight. They did take notice of it. I went to Oslo and met with a Greens MP, and then their minister for energy and his department chiefs, along with Equinor's executive.

I am sure this intervention by the Legislative Council may have contributed something to Equinor's decision to eventually pull away. I do hope that this step can also achieve a positive outcome in the matter, and I strongly urge and commend the motion to the chamber.

Amendment negatived; motion carried.

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