Help Bring Queenie Hart Home

Queenie Hart died in April 1975 on the banks of Tunuba – or the Fitzroy River – the large waterway that runs through Rockhampton. The local newspaper, the Morning Bulletin, had reported on its front page that “the body of a murdered woman was found among river mangroves close to the city”. The story combined news of her death with the weekend’s road death toll. They listed graphic details of her injuries. The police believed she had been the victim of a “sadistic killer”. She was 28 years old.

A few months later, the suspected “sadistic killer” – a white man who was the last person to see Queenie alive – would have all charges of murder dropped against him. But that was not the only injustice. In 1975, Queenie's mother Janey Hart was denied her right to bring her daughter home to be buried in Cherbourg. At the time, Cherbourg will still under the Aboriginal Protection Act, and their lives, movement, and money were still tightly controlled by bureaucrats.

Janey wanted to use her pension to pay for Queenie’s return but was refused. She died and never saw her daughter returned home to her. For 40 years, Queenie has been in an unmarked grave in Rockhampton.

But now her family wants to bring her home, to be buried with her mum, dad, and eight siblings. All the arrangements are in place, and now all we need is the money to do this. Please help us in easing the pain of this enduring injustice. The money will be used for the exhumation, transport, re-burial, and for the ceremony, as well as transportation for Queenie's family.

Help us bring Queenie home.

If you want to find out more, please see The Guardian