Queensland police said their job was to 'keep a completely open mind' which prompted a swift and appalled response. Photo / News Corp Australia
Queensland police said their job was to 'keep a completely open mind' which prompted a swift and appalled response. Photo / News Corp Australia
A comment made by a Queensland detective after Brisbane mother Hannah Clarke and her three young children were murdrered by her estranged husband has sparked outrage online and among domestic violence campaigners.
On Thursday, Queensland police held a press conference about their investigation into the horrific car fire that shocked the nation one day earlier.
"Our job as investigators is to keep a completely open mind," Detective Inspector Mark Thompson said.
"We need to look at every piece of information and, to put it bluntly, there are probably people out there in the community that are deciding which side, so to speak, to take in this investigation.
Federal Labor MP Brian Mitchell, for Lyons in Tasmania, responded: "Jesus Christ Almighty".
"We don't fumble about like this when terrorists kill – why does family violence bring out the hand-wringers for killers of women and kids?" he said.
Keeping an ‘open mind’ about reports the perpetrator was ‘driven too far’. Jesus Christ Almighty. We don’t fumble about like this when terrorists kill - why does family violence bring out the hand-wringers for killers of women and kids? https://t.co/97BubaqptC
Brisbane-based writer Dr Anna Whateley said: "I am genuinely shocked. You cannot drive someone to do what he did."
The Guardian reported chief executive of the Women's Legal Service Queensland, Angela Lynch, responded that "for police to be buying into that kind of rhetoric is very concerning."
"It's giving legitimacy to what has occurred, it's victim blaming," Ms Lynch said.
"It's saying that she might have caused this through her own actions. It plays into very dangerous ideas in the community around victim blaming and a whole range of myths about the family law system."
Victims' advocate Renee Eaves told the publication the narrative was "the most dangerous thing that exists for victims who doubt themselves" after violence and question responsibility.
The administrator for the Doctors Against Violence Towards Women public page on Facebook said "women who are accused of restricting access, 'driving' their men to the brink, who seek orders against the father of their children, are actually just fiercely protective".
One Twitter user said the comment implied it was "open season on women and kids".
"Just tell the cops you were 'pushed too far'," the horrified man said.
What is meant by 'a man driven too far' as a potential explanation for murdering a woman and three children? I am trying to keep an open mind about the QLD police's need to keep an open mind, but that statement is really testing me.#HannahBaxter#HannahClarke
Ms Clarke and her children Aaliyah, aged six, Laianah, four, and Trey, three, all died from burns sustained when Rowan Baxter, 42, set the family car alight on a Camp Hill street on Wednesday morning. Ms Clarke was taken to hospital but succumbed to her injuries around 9pm.
Police said the 42-year-old man was also found dead after the fire with a self-inflicted injury.
Detective Inspector Mark Thompson. Photo / Channel 7
Insp Thompson had been asked if "murder-suicide" was the one line of inquiry being pursued.
He was also questioned as to what he meant by the suggestion police were looking "at whether [Baxter] was driven too far to have done this".
"Is there something you're looking at recently that's occurred between them that may have sparked it?" one reporter asked.
Insp Thompson replied: "Absolutely not. I'm not leaning towards that at all.
"What I was trying to illustrate by my comments were that you do see both in public commentary and in general responses from the community that people will make those allegations.
Hannah Clarke with her three children. Photo / News Corp Australia
"Maybe they are scorned members of the community themselves that have had dealings with domestic violence in the past and that's the sort of things that they say in response to an incident like this.
"I am certainly not saying that the Queensland Police Service are taking any view in relation to that at all. We are not doing that. We are keeping an open mind and doing an open investigation which is exactly what we are to do and we are under the direction from the state coroner to do that."
He asked people to come forward and "build a complete and clear picture" for the coroner.
"What I was trying to illustrate is if there are people out there making the comments such as what I've just described, then, please, come forward and substantiate these claims," he said.
"Help us with the information we need to build that picture for the coroner.
"Coronial issues like this have the ability to drive reform amongst issues like domestic and family violence. It is extremely critical people come forward."
Hannah Clarke with he son Trey. Photo / News Corp Australia
Insp Thompson said police had "engaged" with Ms Clarke and Baxter "in relation to domestic violence issues" and both adults had been referred to support services.
He said domestic and family violence "paperwork and applications" put to court were granted.
"The dynamics of a family that are broken and estranged are particularly poignant to this investigation … and very hard to decipher without us being able to put some sort of clarification around what's happened," he said.
"Unfortunately, some of the people that were involved in that are no longer with us and we're unable to speak to them."
Baxter's Facebook profile had been taken down by Thursday after it became a memorial page and was then flooded with comments labelling him "evil" and "putrid scum".
