Narelle Fraser Interviews

Esther McKay served 17 years with the NSW Police where the majority of her career was spent in Forensic Services, where her expertise in crime scene, vehicle and document examination was often called upon from colleagues and the courts. What Esther was confronted with is often difficult listening, but they are stories which need to be told, to help in understanding the situations Police are so often confronted with in their quest to keep us all safe and assist in convicting those who have no concept or care of that safety we seek. Esther shares an amazing insight into some of the more memorable crime scenes she attended and the toll those crimes scenes eventually took upon her, particularly when a contract was put on her life, such was her level of knowledge and expertise.

Parole was a much talked about subject back in 2023 when there was a possibility Paul Charles Denyer could be released from prison after 30yrs behind bars for the brutal, sadistic murders of 3 young innocent women.This was a patreon episode where I explain a little about the parole system, the role of The Parole Board and Community Corrections Victoria in assessing whether someone is suitable for release into the community or too high a risk to community safety.I then share some of my thoughts on Paul Denyer and his obsession with vulnerable women and my hope he is NEVER released.

Rosemary Harwood, is as genuine, honest and raw as you can get. Rosie doesn’t own a computer, so we had to settle for a phone interview. The sound isn’t great, but if you can persevere, it’s well worth a listen. I’d rather you hear our interview than not. Rosie’s trans daughter Marjorie (who has since passed away due to kidney disease) alleged horrific sexual abuse during custodial sentences she served in a Tasmanian prison for shoplifting, bail breaches and other relatively minor offences. Rosie states the prison ignored protocols and procedures regarding transgender, transexual and Intersex prisoners, in placing Marjorie in a male prison. ‘Marjorie’s Law’ is Rosie’s campaign to highlight the inadequacies of prison systems which ignore basic human rights such as dignity and respect and her wish for better recognition and protection of transgender people in Australia’s prison services

Dr. Leith Middleton’s expertise is primarily in psychology, psychological health and safety safety organizational development where she supports workplaces to build mentally healthy workplaces. Part of this is about identifying safety managing psychological hazards in the workplace. That whole term (psychological hazards in the workplace) brings a smile to my face because it was an unknown term for so many of us who began work in the 70’s safety 80’s. It’s a term which wasn’t in our vocabulary back then……We’ve come a long way. A bit like the term ‘coercive control’ or gaslighting – they are terms many of us had never heard. The majority of Leith’s work is advising workplaces leaders on psychosocial risk mitigation. This includes industries with workers routinely exposed to potentially traumatic material or events safety finding more rigorous ways to mitigate risks to their workers. There is increasing expectations under elevated WH&S legislation to respond to risks in a more systemic way. In saying that, I feel we may have gone to the other extreme as managers often feel unsure or hesitate in acknowledging someone may not be coping, for fear of being accused of delving into someone’s personal life safety overstepping their responsibilities. I’m looking forward to drilling down with Leith in relation to the tendency of many to blame violent or aggressive actions on ‘mental health’, helping people to understand the difference between mental illness and mental health safety how the term “mental health issues” is becoming over-used safety often misunderstood.  Saying someone has “mental health issues” which caused them to perpetrate a violent crime seems to Leith, to be overly simplistic.

Tim Peck was an amazing Policeman – he had a presence, he was smart and he had that air of confidence & intelligence. He was popular, charismatic and just a great guy to be around. But underneath that façade was a man crumbling big time. He was hiding so many fears, insecurities, anxieties and alcohol dependency and for those like me who knew and worked with him, it came as a huge shock to learn about “the real Tim”.  Tim’s highly decorated career shattered and came to an abrupt, dramatic end when he crashed his police car whilst drunk, abusing those members who attended the scene, and then caught a train to regional Victoria to end a life he couldn’t face anymore. He believed his family, friends & everyone else would be better off without him. Somehow Tim crawled out of this black hole. In his recently released book, ‘The Invisible Obvious’, Tim takes us through the mess he made of his life & the challenges he faced in trying to resurrect that mess. 

Holly Ann Martin OBE has been travelling Australia, our outback communities and around the world for about 30yrs give or take, teaching how to keep kids safe from abuse. She teaches not only kids but parents, carers, teachers, Police – anyone who has anything to do with children. She discusses for instance, consent, how to recognise sexualised behaviours, talking to kids about behaviours which make them feel uncomfortable, who to tell and how.  She teaches how to start a conversation with a child or young person about abuse so that it doesn’t frighten them, why using the correct words for our body parts is so important and why it is imperative parents and others learn as much as they can through classes/sessions and forums about what their kids are being exposed to on the net.Holly Ann shares some alarming stats through her teachings, one being 2/3 of 8yo’s tell her they go online when their parents go to sleep!! It doesn’t pay to sleep does it!! 

Holly Ann Martin OBE has been travelling Australia, our outback communities and around the world for about 30yrs give or take, teaching how to keep kids safe from abuse. She teaches not only kids but parents, carers, teachers, Police – anyone who has anything to do with children. She discusses for instance, consent, how to recognise sexualised behaviours, talking to kids about behaviours which make them feel uncomfortable, who to tell and how.  She teaches how to start a conversation with a child or young person about abuse so that it doesn’t frighten them, why using the correct words for our body parts is so important and why it is imperative parents and others learn as much as they can through classes/sessions and forums about what their kids are being exposed to on the net.Holly Ann shares some alarming stats through her teachings, one being 2/3 of 8yo’s tell her they go online when their parents go to sleep!! It doesn’t pay to sleep does it!!  

This week may be a bit uncomfortable for some as we discuss the difficulties of where to house people who identify as transgender within the prison system, as there’s only two types of prison – male prisons and female prisons. Is it acceptable to place a male identifying as female into a female prison? Who’s human rights are more important – those of say female prisoners who feel threatened by the trans person or the trans person’s wish to be housed with those female prisoners? Is a situation I'd actually never considered but its a real issue within the prison system