Tasmania’s Legislative Council will debate a call on the government to establish a Commission of Inquiry into and report on the correctness of the conviction of Susan Neill-Fraser for the murder of Bob Chappell – “arguably one of Australia’s most dangerous convictions,” states Michael Gaffney MP, who tabled the latest Etter Selby Report and moved the motion.
The motion, to be debated on March 24, 2026, “Notes the body of evidence and material that has emerged since the conviction”. Gaffney made the following statement to wrongfulconvictionsreport.org:
“The adjournment speech I made on the 2nd of December 2025 highlighted some of the investigation shortcomings and the consequent errors in the prosecution of Ms Sue Neill-Fraser (SNF) for the murder of her partner Mr Bob Chappell. These were issues raised in the recently tabled paper of Barbara Etter APM and Hugh Selby. The primary focus was upon advances in DNA science and exposing fallacies in police claims about the DNA of Ms Meaghan Vass being left by someone else, or left after the day of the murder, Australia Day 2009. Another area of concern is the documentary evidence which shows the failure of police to make proper inquiries about Ms Vass, her associates, her mobile phones, break-ins to or thefts from boats around the time of the murder and any break-in at Cleanlift marine in Goodwood, to which the yacht was taken before the DNA was found on its deck.
I also made an adjournment speech in August 2021 when I tabled the first Etter-Selby papers about Sue NF’s case, outlining concerns with the police investigation, the forensics, such as the wrongful use of luminol to claim the presence of Mr Chappell’s blood in the dinghy, and the possible misleading of the court. I was elected to Parliament in 2009 and the SNF adjournment speech was the first I had made in 12 years – that’s how seriously I found the treatment of SNF based on the information I received. I was also supported in that initiative by former Premier and Attorney-General Lara Giddings AO.
Two years later, in August 2023, I gave another adjournment speech, highlighting further issues in the case, including concerns about a small blue towel (and the surrounding forensics) and several apparent non-disclosures. Despite all efforts to bring these matters to the attention of the government, there was no action taken. Whatever the reasons for that inaction, the latest independent scientific advances, along with the exposure of further investigative shortcomings, entail that averting one’s gaze or asserting full confidence in the process so far will no longer work. The law needs to keep pace with the science, just as in the Kathleen Folbigg case.
Adjournment speeches, however are constrained by an approximate 10-minute time limit and in my 16 years as a Member of Parliament I have only made 4 adjournment speeches, 3 of those are regarding Sue NF’s case.
I tabled the Notice of Motion on the 3rd December 2025 and it will be debated on the 24th March 2026.There are serious questions regarding the quality and oversight of the police investigation, the independence of the Tasmania Police Forensic Science Service Tasmania (FSST), the handling of the disclosure to the courts by both police and the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions, and the lack of proper management of, and support for, Ms Meaghan Vass after she made sworn statements to having been on the yacht.
By tabling a Notice of Motion I am not constrained by a 10-minute time limit and other members may (if they choose) contribute to the debate.
Unlike the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand, Australia lacks a Criminal Cases Review Commission, so it is extraordinarily difficult to get an independent and effective review of a case. Sadly, there are strong parallels between the cases of Sue Neill-Fraser and Lindy Chamberlain. One really needs to ask what lessons, if any, have been learned in the last 40 plus years.
I will be drawing Members’ attention to the growing body of evidence that the conviction is unsafe. The Court of Appeal in March 2021 also did not have essential information before it when considering the DNA of Ms Meghan Vass and how and when it got there, on the deck of the yacht. Moreover, the science surrounding DNA-TPPR (Transfer, Persistence, Prevalence and Recovery) and Time since Deposition has advanced significantly since the trial and the appeals.
I will be calling on the other Hon Members in the Legislative Council to support an independent inquiry to be established to enquire into and report on the correctness of the Sue Neill-Fraser conviction.
This is arguably one of Australia’s most dangerous convictions – a murder conviction without a body, a weapon, a manner and cause of death, a time of death or a plausible motive. It is now challenged by modern forensic science but has been protected from scrutiny. We need a search for the truth that cannot be provided by another appeal. This conviction does not meet contemporary legal and scientific standards. My expectation (hope) is that the Legislative Council will vote in favour of the inquiry.”
