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that it was never completed. In 2012, 13 thirty-two years after Azaria’s disappearance the final inquest was convened. Presided over by Coroner Elizabeth Morris, this was actually the reopening of the third inquest. 14 This only occurred because Lindy and Michael continued to push for a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the loss of their daughter.
    THE MEDIA’S INFLUENCE
    I am part of the media now, and would not agree when someone describes the media as purely negative. It is true that there are members of media organisations who have agendas, and the media, by and large, is self-serving. Those who work for media outlets, regardless of what format, generally need ratings or sales. It is, in the end, about money. In the melee of getting a good story, I often wonder if those members of the media who are willing to do anything for that big headline forget that the stories they’re telling are not abstract. They involve real people and, sadly, in most cases the big stories focus on people’s suffering, as that’s what sells.
    I am, as an expert with an academic and forensic background, protected from that side of things. Mostly. I have been called a reporter, but reporters are skilled journalists, which I am certainly not. I’ve learnt my investigative skills through forensic investigation rather than journalistictraining, and the reason I work on a case is because something needs exposing, questions need answering. Lindy Chamberlain’s case is a prime example of that.
    As the police case for murder was being developed against Lindy, the newspapers helped fuel the fire. Various motives were suggested and religious rumours abounded – was Azaria sacrificed to atone for the sins of the Seventh-day Adventist Church? Many reporters, and everyday citizens around the country, fell into the fatal trap of watching the Chamberlains and deciding that they weren’t behaving in a way that would be expected for a couple suffering the tragic loss of a child.
    The media storm continued after the Chamberlains lost their High Court appeal. However, many people were now questioning Lindy’s guilt, as news reports began casting doubt on the reliability of the forensic evidence presented at trial. The Free Lindy campaign gained momentum, with more than 100,000 people signing petitions calling for Lindy’s release. Polls showed that where once the majority thought Lindy guilty, now the country was deeply divided – with 48 per cent of those questioned now thinking Lindy innocent.
    COMPARATIVE CASES
    New figures compiled by the Queensland Government’s Department of Environment and Resource Management were provided as evidence at the 2012 inquest into Azaria’s disappearance, and Coroner Morris 15 said the new evidence in relation to dingo attacks on infants and young children helped convince her to reopen the investigation.
    In particular, beautiful Fraser Island has seen more than its share of dingo–human incidents. Located approximately250 kilometres north of Brisbane off Australia’s east coast, Fraser Island is the world’s largest sandy island. In the early 1990s, the island was added to the list of World Heritage sites, due to its beauty as well as its unique flora and fauna – including the Fraser Island dingo. The wild dingo is the island’s apex predator, and is possibly one of the last pure strains of dingo, making it of national and international importance to anyone wishing to retain the natural diversity of not only the island but also the continent. Because of the isolation of the population, wildlife experts acknowledge that Fraser Island dingoes may at some point become the purest strain of dingo on the eastern Australian seaboard and perhaps Australia-wide. As a result, the dingo is protected under the 1992 Nature Conservation Act, as it is classed as native wildlife and protected as a ‘natural resource’ in areas such as Fraser Island. It is the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service’s