- ARCHIVE: Mrs Chamberlain stands trial in the seventh month of her pregnancy. - ARCHIVE: Justice Muirhead asked the foreman if they had reached a verdict. He said they had. - ARCHIVE: Guilty for both Mr and Mrs Chamberlain. - ARCHIVE: There was no body, no murder weapon, no motive, no confession. - ARCHIVE: Mrs Chamberlain was taken away to Berrimah Prison, where she'll serve her sentence ` hard labour for life. (PENSIVE MUSIC) - (CRICKETS CHIRP) - The first night I went to prison, I went to pray, and I realised that (SIGHS) I just couldn't think of a thing. I was just emotionally drained. And I remember saying, 'Can't do this, God. 'You'll have to do it for me.' And... I felt such a peace come over me. I knew God was with me, helping me. People have said to me, 'Tell me what it's like in prison,' and you can't, because there is no,... kind of, equivalent. And I actually heard them discussing, when I'd been in there about a week, you know, 'Let's` We're gonna get her. We're gonna break her.' (BROODING MUSIC) Captions by Maeve Kelly and Sophie Pearce. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2021 (MUSIC CONTINUES) - ARCHIVE: Michael Chamberlain, who was given a suspended sentence for being an accessory after the fact of his wife's murder, is back in New South Wales with his two sons, trying to work out his family's future. - VOICE ACTOR: 'We are innocent, and my wife would affirm it most strongly, and so we must fight on.' - ARCHIVE: I understand appeal papers will be lodged at the Darwin Supreme Court in the next 24 hours. Community Development Minister Jim Robertson announced that Lindy Chamberlain will not be allowed to keep her baby. Just how soon after birth the baby will be taken and to whom it will be given has not yet been made clear. (SOMBRE MUSIC) - Two weeks into her life sentence, Lindy went into labour and was taken to hospital under heavy police guard. Michael and the boys were there in Darwin, but they were not allowed to be with Lindy for the birth. Michael snuck his camera in. - SHAKILY: I remember John coming home and saying to me that the baby was born, and then they took it from her, and he said to me, you know, 'They've taken the baby.' - Lindy was allowed one precious hour with her new daughter, Kahlia. Younger son Raegan struggled with this new sister's arrival. - LINDY, SHAKILY: And they'd taken him down to the nursery and showed him Kahlia, and he just stood back and said, 'Oh, yeah.' She wasn't with Mummy. He didn't want to have anything to do with that baby. - (BABY CRIES) - Two days after Kahlia was born, Lindy was released on bail as her verdict was appealed. - It was several months before he would touch her, because he wasn't dead certain that she wasn't going back. And then I woke up one morning and I couldn't believe my eyes. There he was ` he'd got her out of her cradle... (LAUGHS) and had her like this, he'd feed her, and she's sort of hanging... (CHOKES) (LAUGHS) Um,... and he was right from then on. - MICHAEL: Oh. Big yawn. - Oh, that's a big yawn. - (CRIES) - Over the next five months, the Chamberlain defence team presented their case to the federal court. They tried to introduce new evidence from witnesses. They challenged Crown evidence, including forensic biologist Joy Kuhl's assertion foetal blood was found in the car, and they argued the jury was misdirected. - But I also had running through the back of my mind... When I got bail and after Kahlia was born, I was told, 'Well, you're just going home 'to find somewhere to put the kid; you're coming back.' - The Federal Court determined that the fresh evidence presented by Lindy's defence team was not considered new and relevant. It also stated it had no power to consider whether the jury's verdict was unsafe. After five months with her family, Lindy was returned to jail. Lindsay's legal team immediately launched an appeal to the High Court, their last legal avenue for release, but their efforts to keep mother and daughter together failed, with Lindy's bail application rejected. - ARCHIVE: Mr Ian Barker QC, for the Crown, said the separation was irrelevant because sooner or later, the mother and daughter would have to be separated since the mother was, after all, about to commence a life term for murder. - I met Barker, who was the prosecuting counsel ` who turned out to be quite a nice chap, but from my memory, he was and quite possibly (CHUCKLES) still is utterly convinced of Lindy's guilt. (BROODING MUSIC) - Lindy, escorted by the sheriff of the court and federal police officers, was flown back to Darwin to resume her life sentence. - I was feeling for her how heartbreaking it would be to lose a baby, be accused of... disposing of this child, having another little girl, having that taken off her ` twice. - LINDY: Michael and I talked it over, and it's like, 'Well, it's obvious you can't look after a small child,' and come to the conclusion that this new young couple we'd met who had four kids of their own would be perfect, but, you know, why would you want a fifth one when you already have four? She dropped in out of the blue, and she said, 'If things go wrong and anything happens, 'we'd be happy to have this little muppet.' - When Mum was in prison, I went to a first foster family with the Millers, and Mummy Jenny, as I called her when I was little ` now she's Auntie Jenny ` Auntie Jenny and Uncle Wayne were my first family, and I felt that I belonged entirely. I mean, you've never had a better foster situation. And then I moved to another family, because they were moving to Brisbane, and Dad wanted me, obviously, to be just around the corner, like I had been. So I moved to the second family, the Hugheses, who ` again, couldn't have a better home to live in. So that was actually really, really positive for me. But once, when I was little, I was very upset that she wouldn't have had me if Azaria hadn't died, uh, cos` because I was, like, the` I was the replacement baby, cos she'd lost her daughter. And that was one of those moments when she was really, really upset, because she always wanted four kids. She always wanted four children. She was just upset that now she only had three. - I wrote a letter to Lindy when she was in jail, and I said to her, 'Let's face it ` you've hit rock bottom. Right? 'You can't go any lower. Things can't get any worse than this.' Well, hullo ` little bit down the track, we get the news of, um... Reagan ` he was near some bonfire, and a bottle exploded, and a piece of glass went to his eye. - Next thing I knew, I had a searing pain, and I was on the ground, screamin' my head off. The glass itself, um, it` it` it... it cut my eye in half. - Lindy requested dispensation to be with her son, prepared to pay for all expenses, including security. The authorities denied her request. - Just supposed to stay there, not moving. For around a month, I think it was I was, I was in hospital. Had to relearn to balance again. No depth perception. The number of doorways that I've foreheaded is incredible. - VOICE ACTOR: 'Dearest Reagan, how's Mummy's little pirate? 'I'm very sad your eye is hurt and you hurt too. 'I'd love to be with you and give you a big cuddle. 'Try and be a brave, happy boy, my darling. 'I love you very much. Mummy.' - VOICE ACTOR: 'I am hoping you are going to be all right. 'I bought an Australian Monopoly game with my own money. 'I bought it when I was in hospital.' - VOICE ACTOR: 'I suppose you aren't having much fun 'playing cards or mowing yards. 'I sure hope you're out soon, 'maybe even on a blue moon.' (POIGNANT MUSIC) - AIDAN: I don't dive in deep. It's just... We grew up with it. It was a daily conversation, and... kept lookin' forwards. And I sort of feel... I feel like I look back now and it's almost like watchin' a good movie that you get caught up in, and it's full of intense... And then you think about it a bit harder. (BREATHES HEAVILY) - It was a broken family. I just saw boys who were just devastated, who were in so much pain ` and were out of control, cos they didn't know what to do with it. In their various ways. - There were a few fights that I got into, thanks to various things said ` 'baby killer' or 'murderer' and that sort of nonsense. Or 'dingo's got my baby' comments and stuff. Or` Or even people spitting. Yeah, Aidan and I used to take out a lot of our frustrations upon each other through wrestling ` we would wrestle to pin each other and punch to bruise... stuff. There's a lot of... somewhat destructive things that we did to each other. (CHUCKLES) (APPREHENSIVE MUSIC) - Lindy was in her 10th month of imprisonment when the High Court brought down the judgement. - I was hopeful,... but it had come out that it was pretty close and... 50/50. - Justices Gibbs, Mason and Brennan upheld the guilty verdict. Justices Deane and Murphy concluded the evidence did not establish beyond reasonable doubt that the Chamberlains were guilty. They believed the verdict was unsafe. The Chamberlains lost the appeal three-two. - That was it. There were no more appeals. There was nowhere to go. - I am bitterly disappointed at the decision. We will not stop fighting. - Three-two. And you're going, 'How the hell can this happen in this country?' On the same information. How the hell do you do this? - Many people shared what ultimately Lionel Murphy said in the High Court ` that there were strong features about the case that, uh, made one very unsettled about the conviction. - When the High Court rejected the Chamberlain appeal, they added a new twist to the whole saga by more or less rejecting all the evidence about foetal blood in the car. Though by now, it was too late for the Chamberlains. - I felt rather relieved, actually, that they considered there was enough evidence without mine. - Weren't they casting aspersions, though, on your judgements? - Oh. I don't think so. (SOMBRE MUSIC) (CROWS CAW) - I thought after six months, 'Oh, I've got this down; I know how prison works.' And by the time I'd been there 12 months, I realised... I still didn't know how prison would. - ARCHIVE: First, I was gonna beat her up. But, you know, as I got to know her, it was like... Things didn't add up. The caring mother that I saw, she was a safety net for a lot of people in prison, and it takes a very strong person to do that. So the screws gave her a hard time. - They'd give you all the nastiest, dirtiest jobs they could think of. Some of the male screws, they'd pee in the basins, and there would be... other excretia over the floors and walls in the cubicles. And one of the screws, when she realised we weren't going to do it anymore, she made me scrub the whole place with a toothbrush. - VOICE ACTOR: 'To my darling Lindy ` 'I guess it is very hard for me to say anything just now, 'as nobody knows which way the NT Government is going to jump. 'It is almost a year that we have been separated, 'and it's been the worst year of my life, just like yours. 'I am still a spiritual person, but I am not religious like you seem to be still. 'I guess that is one of the things you will find hard to cope with.' - VOICE ACTOR: 'My darling Michael ` 'I love you, my darling. I always have, and I always will. 'I gave you the only gift I know ` freedom. 'Maybe this separation has made some things clearer. 'Of course I cry. I always have. 'I've just learnt to hide it from you. 'It's only a shell. I hurt inside.' If I had to get away, I'd go and open the door, and then I'd just lie down in the shower and... Cos it was the only place (CHUCKLES) they couldn't actually see without walking in. It's what you learn. It's an education. I learnt to roll a joint in prison. The... (LAUGHS) LAUGHS: Skills that you don't need that you learn. Yeah. TJ: Have I done enough to wear the jersey? Gotta sweat out that fear because this is bigger than me. I do it for my fans and my family. ION4 hydration. Sweat it out witih Powerade. * - Michael and the children were allowed to make the 3000km trek to Darwin just three times a year to visit Lindy, the gaze of the media ever present, desperate to catch a glimpse of Australia's most infamous family. - Michael would try to come up every school holidays, and,... you know, we got to do that because a lot of people around Australia (VOICE BREAKS) sent money. SHAKILY: Pensioners sending in a dollar, or $5 or something, and sending it weekly. Those are the sorts of things that... you can't express what they mean. (BROODING MUSIC) - Across the country, a grassroots movement took shape, led by the Seventh-day Adventist community, the eyewitnesses and everyday citizens who believed that a grave miscarriage of justice had occurred. - There were people that stuck their neck out all over the country... because they said, 'This is wrong.' - You could never tell who was a supporter and who wasn't. It was all gamut of society, really. - They're the type of people that our country is built on ` not the people that go, 'Oh, I'm offended.' Get over yourself and take a stand. - AIDAN: Just people we'd never met that would come and support ` door-knock, make newsletters, chasin' the truth to get it out there. Constant hope. - Tony and Liz Noonan in Darwin... I mean, (LAUGHS) you've gotta have balls to say, 'Listen, Darwin, you're wrong.' - The atmosphere in Darwin was absolutely toxic. It was awful. I did have one friend. He would not join us, but he just said, 'I hope to hell she did it, because if she didn't, 'what have we done to her, you know?' - ARCHIVE: Sally and I have seen things go wrong, but we are now in a position to present the facts to the people of Australia. - ARCHIVE: I'm only a housewife, but I'm prepared to fight for justice and truth, and if I have to approach every person in Australia, I'm prepared to do it. VOICE BREAKS: There's an innocent woman sitting in jail... SOBS: God, what have I done? - (CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK) - MAN: I'm so sorry. It's all right. - SOBS: I'm sorry. - Shh. Shh. - Even though they were Crown witnesses, they treated them as hostile witnesses. No wonder these people got together and said, 'Something is fishy.' - ARCHIVE: More than 2000 attended the meeting in the town hall. - ARCHIVE: Rallies are being held around the country almost weekly. - ARCHIVE: Melbourne sculptor and leading pro-Chamberlain activist Guy Boyd claimed that signatures on a petition has grown to in excess of 106,000. - ARCHIVE: The longer the Northern Territory holds out, the blacker its name will become. - I think from pretty early on, she realised that she would, you know, go to war on the issue, and, um... and she did. (LAUGHS) - Somebody said to me today, 'How did you come to get on the bandwagon?' And I felt like saying, 'Look, this is no bandwagon. This can happen to anybody, 'anybody in Australia.' - (APPLAUSE) - LINDY: So all these letters arriving ` like 250 a day. I'm having visits from head honchos in town saying, 'Can you please tell your supporters to quit writing us letters?' I'm like, 'Got nothing to do with me. 'If you want them to stop writing, (CHUCKLES) you know what to do.' - But even as public support built, it was still a nation divided. - ARCHIVE: Well, could she be covering for somebody else, then? - ARCHIVE: There was no opportunity for anyone else to have even done it! Well` - As far as I'm concerned, a dingo took it, and that's for sure. - WOMAN ON ARCHIVE: That woman has had more chances than anybody else to prove her innocence, and now we have all these people running around the country trying to turn her into some kind of latter-day Joan of Arc. - WOMAN ON ARCHIVE: I think that she's a cold-blooded, calculating murderess. - 'It is the truth. It is the fact. 'So many people believe it. How can someone else not?' - My grandparents, so Mum's dad and mum, did a lot in helping and coordinating and various things. - ARCHIVE: People have been saying that we've come to the end of the road. We have certainly not come to the end of the road. - ARCHIVE: Would it be fair to describe you as` as angry and frustrated at this time? - I'm about as angry... as a wounded grizzly bear. - He doorknocked the whole of Nowra. Didn't tell 'em who was my dad; just went looking for signatures. - And there was one lady who realised that he was Lindy's dad, and she sent him a letter, and in it she said, 'I understand what a father needs to do for his daughter, 'but in order to have trust in our judicial system, 'you've got to accept that she is guilty, 'irrespective of what you think of her. You've got to let it go.' And he said, 'Let it go when it's got it wrong? 'Never.' - ARCHIVE: There's been many a night when I've lain awake and listen to the clock strike just hour after hour after hour, and... I just cried out in my heart that, 'God, I can't stand it any longer. 'I can't go on.' - VOICE ACTOR: 'Our sweetheart daughter, 'to our precious little girl.' - VOICE ACTOR: 'All our love and thoughts are with you continually.' - 'There've been some good letters in the paper lately speaking out in your favour. - 'So just keep on, darling. Don't be discouraged. 'Fondest love from Dad and Mum.' - In May 1984, the Governor-General was presented with a petition demanding a judicial inquiry into the case. It was signed by 131,000 people. - The National Freedom Council is well organised and persistent, and they're adamant that campaign won't come to an end until Lindy Chamberlain is free. - ARCHIVE: A jury heard the evidence. The jury arrived at a decision ` by our 12 ordinary Australians, our fellow citizens who represent the whole community in the administration of criminal justice. And, you know, I think the criminal law must be upheld. - Paul Everingham stepped down as Chief Minister of the Northern Territory and entered Federal Parliament. New Chief Minister Ian Tuxworth and Attorney-General Marshall Perron maintained the Northern Territory Government's position. - There was certainly an instinctive belief that, um, perhaps tourism and so on would be an issue if they were ever to acknowledge that dingoes were not really, you know, more like Labradors than wolves. There was a determination not to acknowledge the possibility of error. - As Lindy entered her third year in jail, the Chamberlain Innocence Committee released evidence they believed would push the Northern Territory Government to set up a judicial inquiry into her conviction. - We have delayed bringing this material to the public until we're sure it can stand up. - Do you think you have support in the Northern Territory? - Well, that remains to be seen. - As the committee awaited a response to their submission, influential voices shone a spotlight on the family's plight. - I let Ita Buttrose in, and they were scared to say no to her, which... Often they'd say I'd said no and the prison ward had said no. - Jail's pretty strict. You know, you can have an hour. You know` You gotta remember this` My visit was probably a treat for her. Even though we were having an interview. It would have been very difficult for her. Very` Very isolating. (SOMBRE MUSIC) She particularly missed the boys, which I think is understandable, because she... she knew the boys, but she never really got a chance to know Kahlia. The only thing people wanted to know when I got back to Sydney was, 'Did she do it?' I didn't answer, because that was the whole problem. Everyone in Australia judged this woman before she ever got a trial, and even when she was in jail, she was still being judged. - But I really think they wanted to put across as to who they were and what they were about and what they hadn't done. I never forget the day that I met him. He kept peppering me with questions about... what was my motivation, had I once said this on air about him or his family... He was very intense. He was also angry. Deep-down anger was within Michael Chamberlain, and he was very wary of journalists. He asked me, did I have a hidden microphone on me. Why wouldn't he be angry? Someone accused them... of killing their baby. They didn't do that, and yet she went to jail for it. People used to spit at them as they drove past in the car and do dingo howls as they went around the place. They had to put up with all that, and they had half of Australia believing they were killers, so I can understand his anger. - Despite denials by the Northern Territory Government, the family of Lindy Chamberlain is refusing to give up hope that she'll soon be released from Darwin's Berrimah Jail. - ARCHIVE: Lindy Chamberlain's fate rests with one man, Northern Territory Attorney-General Marshall Perron. It was Perron himself who sparked speculation that Lindy's release was imminent by saying last week that he'd make a decision before Christmas. - By 1985, when Lindy Chamberlain had already been in jail nearly three years ` what I saw as a community judgement that the interests of justice had been served and that she should be released. Release on licence was simply a form of letting her out of jail without acknowledging error on the part of the Northern Territory Government or their authorities. - ARCHIVE: On the streets of Darwin, the opinion is mixed. - She's convicted. She should stay and do her sentence. - What do you think? - I think she should be released. - CHUCKLES: I don't really care. - I just think she should've been released. - Every time there was something in The Southern Press, Darwinians'd get their backs up. - Dodgy Brothers have expanded! - Become a forensic scientist... - BOTH: ...in just... - ...five days! - And a senior government administrator in four and a half days! - And if you've got absolutely no financial skills whatsoever, We need you to run... - Need you... run... - ...our Dodgy Brothers Northern Territory... - Dodgy... Northern... - ...C-Casino. - ...Casino, yes! Anything can be arranged in the Northern Territory! - ARCHIVE: For those expecting progress or even hints on Lindy Chamberlain's possible release date, today's visit by Marshall Perron was very disappointing. Basically, he wanted to tell Canberra ` and the media ` to mind their own business. He met former Federal Attorney-General Gareth Evans, who last week suggested Mrs Chamberlain should be released on licence. - I think he was feeling himself, probably, something needed to be done, but as he made it very directly clear to me, he did not want to be seen to be succumbing to pressure. - I won't be intimidated by,... uh, any measure that the Senate might or might not take. - ARCHIVE: Could he give any idea? Would it be weeks or months? - No idea, I'm afraid. - The Northern Territory Government took no action. Looking at spending her third Christmas in jail, Lindy had a letter smuggled out of prison. - LINDY: 'I've tried to cooperate, but still this farce continues. 'For nearly three years, I have worked as an inmate of this prison 'for 30c a day, trying to do whatever I was asked pleasantly. 'I have sought an inquiry whereby the NT Government had a chance to redeem their own name. 'In return, they have ignored decency and justice 'and still scoff at it. 'As from 1pm Darwin time today, 'I'm refusing to work in any way whatsoever for this prison.' 'I did not kill my loved daughter 'and refused to be treated as a criminal any longer. 'Lindy Chamberlain.' - ARCHIVE: Had you allowed your hopes to go through to the children? - MICHAEL: I certainly hadn't. Quite frankly, I'm quite fearful to speak to them about hopes. - I understand your eldest son was particularly upset at the polls that came out on the weekend. - ARCHIVE: 60.7% voted no, with only 39.3% voting yes. - He went to the telephone and rang up, uh, 178 times with a yes vote. When he found out that only 40% of Australians, in fact, wanted her to be released, it was too much for him, and he went straight to bed, and I think he cried for about two hours. - I felt there was a lot of good people, and it even made it harder to understand ` how... how is it possible? How can you get away with a statement like that? How can you... put someone` Just nothing made sense. - VOICE ACTOR: 'Dear Mr Tuxworth and Mr Hawke, 'I cannot understand why you are keeping my mummy in jail 'when I know she did not kill my baby sister Azaria. 'I was with Mummy and talking to her the whole time. 'Is there nothing you can do to help me?' - I do remember visiting her in prison. I at least have a memory of doing that. Um, and... more than one trip to Darwin. I do remember that. - VOICE ACTOR: 'Dear Mr Tuxworth, Mr Hawke, 'Prince Charles and Princess Diana. 'I can still remember the dingo walk on my chest. 'I loved my bubby Azaria, and so did Mommy. 'Can you make them let my mummy come home to me?' (SOMBRE MUSIC) - MICHAEL ON ARCHIVE: To me, it seems like we've got no star to follow, we've got no chart to plot, and really we're quite on our own. - And when do you think she'll be released now? - I think God only knows that. * - (WIND HOWLS) - On the 2nd of February 1986, the body of a British tourist, David Brett, was found at the base of Uluru, immediately adjacent to the gully where Azaria's jumpsuit, singlet and nappy had been found. 70m from his body, which had been mangled by dingoes, the searchers made a startling discovery. - ARCHIVE: What are the unknowns? - MICHAEL: Well, of course, there's Azaria's matinee jacket. She was wearing it on the night of the disappearance. It'd probably have greatly aided the whole of the investigation. Where it is... nobody knows. - ARCHIVE: the discovery of a baby's matinee jacket has given new impetus today to calls for a federal government inquiry into the Azaria Chamberlain case. Lindy Chamberlain's lawyer, Stuart Tipple, has asked Northern Territory Police for access to the jacket and requested that no forensic tests be carried out in the meantime. - It took a leak to our guys and our guys saying, 'We know you've found one; Mrs Chamberlain should be shown it,' before they went, 'Oh, yeah, that's a good idea. We'll have to arrange for her to see it.' It was all... like pulling teeth. (SOMBRE MUSIC) LINDY ON ARCHIVE: It's one of those feelings that you just can't put it into words. It wasn't easy... to see that, and I know I had to say to myself, 'You must not show any emotion.' - MAN: Perhaps, before we try and do any more camerawork,... - LINDY ON ARCHIVE: There is no emotion on my face whatsoever ` I'm just looking at it ` although you can see I've got my arms wrapped around, cos I desperately want to touch it, and it was like, 'No, no, no, don't touch it.' But they hadn't got any better; we'd barely walked out of the room and they dropped it on the floor. - Lindy's confirmation that it was Azaria's matinee jacket set off an unstoppable chain of events. - ARCHIVE: Mrs Chamberlain on Wednesday identified the jacket as the one her daughter Azaria was wearing when she disappeared five... - ARCHIVE: Police Commissioner Peter McAuley says the jacket is significant new evidence. - She believes that the garment found is the matinee jacket worn by her child at the time of its disappearance. - All the way through, I'd said there was a matinee jacket, and the Crown said it was a fanciful lie. Whoops. - The finding of Azaria's matinee jacket proved Lindy had been telling the truth all along. This new evidence forced the Northern Territory Government to act. - A short time ago, His Honour the Administrator accepted the advice of executive counsel that the balance of Mrs Chamberlain's life sentence be remitted and that she be released from Darwin Prison. - ARCHIVE: Five and a half years after the death of her daughter Azaria, Lindy Chamberlain is free, and the territory's attorney-general says she'll remain free no matter what the outcome of the new inquiry is. - The day I got released was my pastoral visit day. As I'm rushing by, he grabbed me and said, 'What's happening?' 'Bob, haven't they told you? 'I'm going home!' (UPLIFTING MUSIC) - (CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK) - The support group, we got together and decided that, 'Yay, we've got to put these yellow ribbons out.' ARCHIVE: Around the college grounds, yellow bunting had sprouted on fences and on trees, recalling the American Civil War custom of flying yellow ribbons to welcome those returning. - LINDY: It was about 1.30 in the morning. We got right down near the house, and I see these two kids racing along the footpath, and one of them gets well and truly left behind. And we pulled into the driveway, (GASPS, SNIFFLES) And the... 'kid' came barrelling after, and as soon as I opened the door, I hear, 'Mum!' (CHUCKLES TEARFULLY) And it was Aidan, and he launched himself at me. - INTERVIEWER: So how would you feel? - (WHIMPERS SOFTLY) (INHALES SHAKILY) Probably as happy as you've ever felt. - LINDY: They just stood there, and then I said, 'Well, aren't you gonna say hello?' And my dad said as soon as I smiled, he realised` he thought it was me and thought, 'It can't be.' - I'm told from Auntie Jenny, but she would have me pray for Mummy with a photo on the wall, and I would kiss her goodnight every night. So my mum... There's this movie portrayal of Mum coming home and me being like, 'Who are you?' But the truth of what happened at that time was she came home and I was, 'Mummy, Mummy,' ran straight to her. I was so comfortable and so happy that she was my mother. I always grew up knowing this. I never felt disenfranchised. - LINDY: The next morning, I heard this racket coming down the hallway, and then there was,... 'Plonk!' Straight on my back, which was something Reagan always loved to do ` arms this way, (CHUCKLES) legs around and hold on. Kahlia, cos she wasn't big enough, she had to actually crawl up the side of the bed, and then she piled on the top, and it was, 'Mummy, Mummy, Mummy.' (POIGNANT MUSIC) - MAN: Grandma Hughes, this is Mrs Lindy Chamberlain. - Is it? - LINDY: Yeah, 'course it is. - Is it? - Yeah. - Oh! - (LAUGHTER) - You dear soul! - 'I was so tired. My skin was grey.' I couldn't eat ` food was too rich; I was throwing it up. And I could hear the bed squeak, and I remember getting out at one stage and curling up on the floor. - AIDAN: The mountains of fruit baskets and flowers we got ` you know, Mum took a while to get her diet back; she couldn't eat it, and so we got a lot of stone fruit and citrus fruit and mangoes and... I know I did, and I'm sure Reagan did. We just loved eatin' that fruit. Doesn't take much when you're little and young, does it? You don't ask for much. (POIGNANT MUSIC) - FEMALE ACTOR: 'I have tremendous respect and admiration for you 'and the way you've survived such a monumental trauma. You inspire me.' - FEMALE ACTOR: 'You are one of the most courageous, good-hearted, 'determined and mentally strong Australians I've known.' - MALE ACTOR: 'You cunning, evil snake in the grass, heathen. 'May you suffer everlasting torment all your days.' - FEMALE ACTOR: 'Your character, beliefs and devotion to God 'have been an inspiration to me and my family.' - MALE ACTOR: 'Azaria won't rest in peace because her mother was too weak to tell the truth. 'You made a lot of money from your baby's death, 'and now you're using your new baby to get out of prison.' - The rights to the Chamberlain story is already into the hundreds of thousands, we are told, and expected to go even higher. Senator Mason, do you find this all a bit unsavoury? - No, I don't. I think the Chamberlains have been through hell. They put every cent they had into their defence, as far as I know. I think they ought to get every bit they can get of it and run. - ARCHIVE: The Chamberlains sat in the second-back row, but if it wasn't for the glare of cameras, many may not have recognised Mrs Chamberlain. - LINDY: One of the reporters that had been there all the way through said, 'You guys need a manager,' and put us in contact with Harry Miller, and that was just like having a human Alsatian on the case. All of a sudden, all the harassment, it just dissipated overnight... and... made the media kind of... line up and behave. - The Chamberlains were kept under close guard by church members and personnel from the Packer Group. - The accusations about the Chamberlains making money out of the death of their daughter... The one person makin' money was Kerry Packer. - LINDY: It's not clear-cut, and it's not for profit. They take away your life. They take away your livelihood, and you're left sometimes with` the way to make a livelihood is to sell an interview. - (APPLAUSE) - Words are totally inadequate to say what we feel and to express our gratitude for your love and your care and your prayers. VOICE BREAKS: Just reaches out like a blanket. The real fight for justice is only just starting. This is not just for our freedom and our name to be cleared; it's for every Australian. We don't ever want to see this happen in Australia again. - ARCHIVE: Mr Perron said his government has not been discredited. - Not at all. - Or the investigation or the way you've handled the case? - Not at all. - ARCHIVE: Does this make the Northern Territory Police Force look a little foolish? - Not in my opinion, no. I consider that we're as professional as any other police force in this country. I don't have to defend my members. I don't think that we've done anything other than our duty. - LINDY: I had lost myself a bit during my marriage, and I found myself again in prison, and when I came out, I... knew exactly who I was again, and I just wasn't prepared to be anybody's doormat after that. This is who I am, this is who I've always been, and people who had known me for a long time before that went, 'Oh, you're back! Thank goodness.' * - The Northern Territory made it clear it was not bowing to public or political pressure, but it passed the necessary legislation to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Chamberlain convictions under Justice Trevor Morling. - ARCHIVE: Only Cyclone Tracy and the Chamberlain inquiry attracts this much media attention in Darwin. - Must be difficult for you to return, is it? - (CROWD CLAMOURS) - Difficult for you to return, Michael? - The trial occupied eight weeks; the Royal Commission ran for 11 months. In Darwin, no restaurant would take a booking in the Chamberlains' name, because they were too frightened of violence breaking out. We'd never seen anything like this in Australia in relation to a family before. Some members of the community were hostile; many of them were simply wary. - And for the first time ever, people were ungagged and allowed to say everything they knew. - ARCHIVE: Mr Lowe's new evidence is vital because it directly contradicts the Crown case, which says Lindy Chamberlain took Azaria to the car and cut her throat. - She was actually in sight, and this is the period of time the Crown assumed that the crime was committed. - ARCHIVE: Mr Ian Barker QC asked him four times whether he was lying. - ARCHIVE: Speaking in a quiet voice, with his head barely visible over the top of the witness box, he described what happened. - This was the first time Aidan's account was heard in a court of law. His evidence was consistent with the statement he gave to police in 1980. - Same as when I went to court. 'Oh, sadness ` poor little boy sittin' there crying,' while they dragged me in there. What were they gonna ask me? Same things I'd seen and told everyone. Try and to get me to forget it. - One by one, the eyewitnesses came in, finally having their day in court. - ARCHIVE: Roberta Elston ` she didn't see or smell any blood. - ARCHIVE: Mrs Judith West said that in her police interview... - ARCHIVE: Mr Whittaker said the detectives didn't seem interested. - ARCHIVE: But Winmatti said he'd seen blood outside the entrance... - ARCHIVE: This is Sally Lowe, whose evidence strongly supports the dingo story. - The way that her trackers and supporters and people that actually knew Uluru were treated and disrespected and disregarded... None of this would happen today if Australia wasn't so attached to its racism. So that's the one thing I did get out of (LAUGHS) the justice system there. - As the revelations continued, Victorian couple Max and Phyllis Cranwell came forward. Their story of a dingo attack two months before Azaria had been taken was reported by a park ranger at the first inquest in 1980. - We prepared to put the campervan up, and we'd left the two children in the car. We'd left the front two doors open so they had lights on, and we went into the van and set the van up. Then we heard a bit of a cry-out, and we went out looking, and Amanda was on the ground, and the dingo was standing over her head like this ` like, two paws over her head ` and Max just sort of shooed it away. And she just said to me, 'Doggy drag me. Doggy drag me,' and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, the dog's pulled her out of the car!' - The Cranwells gave a statement immediately, asked for it to be passed on to us, and we were being told, 'No, you can't have permission.' - The defence team had wanted them to appear at the trial in 1982 but had been unable to locate them. There was no record of them to be found in the campus logbook at Uluru. - And we said, 'Well, that's not right,' because Max was very pedantic about keeping everything, and he had the receipt. (BROODING MUSIC) - They wanted us to be there, but the page is gone out of the book. Couldn't find us. - ARCHIVE: Mr John Winneke QC, for the Chamberlains, began his day by once again attacking the Northern Territory Police. By withholding from the trial evidence favourable to the Chamberlains, he said, the police showed they had lost control of their objectivity and had failed to keep an open mind. - Detective Inspector Graeme Charlwood, who had been responsible for the investigation, appeared. - ARCHIVE: Charlwood agreed it was his duty to pass on all information, favourable or unfavourable, but he conceded at the first inquest at least, the coroner was deprived of highly relevant information. This afternoon, another policeman, Senior Constable Jim Metcalfe, denied expressing public hostility to Mrs Chamberlain. Metcalfe said he had never used words to the effect, 'We're going to get this bitch.' - So much of the forensic evidence of the past was a function of experts digging in behind positions that were tenuous at best. - ARCHIVE: Mr Winneke attacked Professor James Cameron, who gave evidence that Azaria's throat had been cut, saying it was 'careless' and 'discredited'. - Cameron's expert claims about the jumpsuit, enthusiastically promoted by the Crown, was key in the convictions of the Chamberlains. - The jumpsuit ` the presumption made at that time was that they'd been cut by scissors. A number of things can actually cut like that. A dingo's carnassial teeth can cut like a pair of scissors. You could actually rub the jumpsuit and cut fibres would fall out of it. There were half a dozen hairs found in the tent which were identified as cat hairs but turned out to be dog hairs. (BROODING MUSIC) - The other key evidence in the Crown's case was Joy Kuhl's claim that foetal blood was found in the Chamberlains' car. - In the Torana, when I examined it, I didn't find any blood at all. We did find protein, proteinaceous material, which could have been a milkshake. I did find... what was sound deadener where the so-called arterial foetal blood was. - Sound deadener was a spray paint used in the manufacturing in this model of car. - LINDY: And the assembly line, as it goes through, every so often, the sound deadener sprays upwards on to the underside of the dash, which was exactly the direction everybody had said ` it's not coming from a cut throat this way; it's coming from that way. - I feel a little embarrassed that the forensic community had got it that wrong. Because they had been on the public record, they found it very difficult to change their views. (BROODING MUSIC) - The mauling inquiry, it was done in different states and territories, and then there was a Melbourne section, and the Chamberlains stayed with us. - Mary lost her job because I ordered... in her shop. How sick is that? That they can't look and say, 'Well, you're a good worker; 'you don't have to leave because you've got a friend 'that I don't approve of.' - You know, when I reflect on it now, you just think, 'Wow', you know. This is so cruel to do something like that to a human being, you know? * (PENSIVE MUSIC) - ARCHIVE: Mrs Chamberlain appeared to let the frustration and anger of six and a half years overflow during her last hours in the witness box. Mr Ian Barker QC drew an angry response when he suggested her emotions in court were contrived, saying she appeared cold and clinical in television interviews when explaining how a dingo may have undressed Azaria. - Said to him, 'Mr Barker, I don't like you, 'and I don't like your... kind of law,' and then everybody broke out clapping. - ARCHIVE: the man who has weighed up all the available evidence, Justice Trevor Morling, was unequivocal in his conclusion, saying... - Ian Barker QC said at the end of the whole process, uh, 'If I had known then... 'what I now know, I would not have recommended that this matter 'go to trial.' - The granting of a pardon has the status of, uh` or bringing the person involved back to the status that they had prior to any trial. - But would you agree` - But do you think` - ARCHIVE: Mr Manzie says he was unable to declare the Chamberlains innocent or directly say that they'd been exonerated by the report. - The Chamberlains refused to accept the Northern Territory's government pardon. They had done nothing to be pardoned for. They vowed to fight on. - There was a piano in the house, and we came from one of the sessions, and Michael sang. And for Lindy, it was just a moment of time where she said, 'Stop. Listen. 'This is the first time that he has sung since the since the baby disappeared.' - I forgot about that. (POIGNANT MUSIC) - # Have you noticed somethin' happenin', # somethin' goin' on round here? - # Have you noticed there's a feeling... - BOTH: # ...of somethin' in the air. - ALL: # Celebration of a nation. - # Give us a hand! - # Celebration of a nation. - # Let's make it great. - # Let's make it great in '88. # Come on, give us a hand. # - ARCHIVE: Lindy and Michael Chamberlain walked into the same courthouse where they stood trial for the murder of their baby daughter for the last time today. It took the Court of Criminal Appeal just 10 minutes to hand down its judgement. - Lindy and Michael had their convictions quashed, their innocence re-established. - ARCHIVE: Lindy Chamberlain may be refusing to talk openly about her feelings, but on leaving Darwin, she certainly made them known. - (PEOPLE CHATTER) - It's my regret about Azaria... that I should have changed more nappies and taken less photographs. In conclusion, I would just like to say I hope that you are believing that you will see your daughter or your son or your loved ones just as strongly as we believe we are gonna see our little daughter again. - WOMAN: Amen. - (APPLAUSE) - Could all the people here tonight who were at Ayers Rock and were witnesses of the tragedy please come to the front of the platform? - (APPLAUSE) - You probably all went into courtrooms at different times, and Lindy thinks this might be the first time you've been together in public, and we'd like to express our appreciation to you and what you've done. - (APPLAUSE) - LINDY: People are so quick to jump on the bandwagon and judge, and these people went through hell for me. It's no wonder they're my second family. (POIGNANT MUSIC) - You know, all these random strangers that were at this campground on that particular day, at that particular time, and how they brought together and how it's affected a lot of these people. It's destroyed a few families, it's destroyed relationships, because of the pressure at the time. - LINDY: The long-term effects of that, what people did ` lost jobs because, 'You're the Chamberlain witness,' and yet stuck with it cos, to quote Greg, 'Could've bloody well been us.' - Smile, say hello. - (LAUGHTER) - You can wave to this one. - Yeah. - I lost a husband and a daughter 10 years ago, and Lindy came down to see me. You know, that` that's just wonderful. They're just part of us. (POIGNANT MUSIC) - The friendship's... been really good. - Mm. - Each one of 'em feel that if only they had said X... - ...or had done X. ...or had done X in the beginning, that Lindy never would've gone through everything she has. Each one 'em live with it. - They all feel it's their fault. - Every one of 'em lives with it. Yep. - Knowing I was there with two cameras... And after Constable Morris picked the clothing up, I thought, 'Oh, I should've taken a photo meself,' which is just unbelievable. - I think` - But it has had an impact on the children. - I remember feeling... almost a sense of responsibility, like if we got there or if we got there an hour later, would things have happened? Would things have been the same? Would the dingoes or camp dogs have turned up to our campsite? - They feel guilty about the fact we fed the dingoes ` 'If we hadn't done that, it wouldn't have happened,' but I said, 'It would have happened anyway.' - That's the common second-family feeling. - Mm. - Mm. (POIGNANT MUSIC) * - People's perceptions took a huge leap forward. The end of the Royal Commission, there was another huge leap forward. Um, the film Evil Angels ` or Cry in the Dark, as it's known everywhere else ` that was a huge leap forward. - Hi, Sam. - Hi, Aidan. How are you? (INDISTINCT CHATTER) Hi, how are you? - Nice to see you. - Waiting for you to stop filming in there and jump out of bed again. (LAUGHS) - 1988 feature film Evil Angels would be one of the most accurate representations of the Chamberlain story. - I knew this was going to be so damn hard because I felt so responsible because it was affecting people in the immediate, and I wanted to get it right. Do you do the real truth and let it speak for itself? Or do you do the slightly fictionalised version, as some people who do that say, to get to a greater truth? I come down on do the real truth. - When I get out of jail. - Yeah. I know you had it straight back and I know it was` You know. But this is just too great. - This is terrible. - It's great. It's so different from the other. - But it is so different. But then, so was the spike. - Meryl, you know, spent quite some time with Lindy and Sam. We wanted to hear from each of them the effect of this, and they were very forthcoming with that. You know, Lindy is particularly forthright. She doesn't muck around. She didn't take prisoners. I think, Michael, it sort of hit him a lot harder. - I think it will make a lot of people feel very, very ashamed that they have jumped to conclusions. - And it just causes you to totally relive the three months of that precious little thing that we had in our arms. - MAN: Did you cry during the film? - Yes. - What made you so upset? - When Mum` When Mum and Dad went to jail. - She's not a mystery murder, still left open on the books to come back and years to come, time and time again and fiddle with and say, 'Ah, but there must have been something there.' - The film was critically acclaimed and garnered an Academy Award nomination for Meryl Streep, but in Australia it had limited box office success. - People don't want to remember their own complicity in that, kind of, swirl of condemnation around the Chamberlains. And of course, when the film comes out, that's the bicentenary year, you know, and it's a real, um,... it's a real condemnation of Australians, I think, in that that should have, supposedly, been a year celebration. - Streep's delivery of Lindy's famous cry became entrenched in popular culture. - 'Dingo's got my baby.' It's on The Simpsons. It's on Seinfeld. It becomes global. It becomes this global joke about Australia. - The word went round, 'Don't go and see the film. It might change your mind.' Right? (LAUGHS) That's the strangest quote I've ever had. (POIGNANT MUSIC) - For me, it's... (LAUGHS DRYLY), I guess, since I've always been fair is fair, there's no point` there's no point trying to... hold on to something that doesn't wanna` wanna be held onto. - The things that happen inside families when they say it does not affect them, it's just... they didn't live through that. - Lindy released her autobiography to the clamour of cameras and the familiar media scrum. (INDISTINCT CHATTER) - That's not how I've got it. That's my thumb. - Enough. Enough. - You have to find a means of earning your livelihood where you can because you still have a family to raise and to bring up. And sometimes the way that you have to do that is not the way you would choose. I possibly would not have chosen to write this book and publish it, except that I have a family to look after. - And the midday audience was then treated, despite two coronial inquests, a trial, two appeals and a judicial inquiry to a verdict by a coach party of day trippers. - Can I ask people here, can you be honest, those who think that Lindy is still guilty? - Deep, isn't it (?) - You live with people loving you, hating you,... whatever, you've just gotta walk your own path in between. - ARCHIVE: The former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Paul Everingham, bluntly declared he had no sympathy for the Chamberlains financial and emotional predicament. - They don't deserve compensation. - WOMAN: OK, we've got` - It's already cost the taxpayers $10 million. - So` - And they're making money out of selling film rights, book rights. I mean, they've got opportunities for income that I never had before this. They're probably millionaires now. - Do you think they've done very well out of this? - Well, I` (LAUGHS DRYLY) You know, they might have had an emotionally gruelling time, but they've made a few dollars on the way, haven't they? - ARCHIVE: Today, Mrs Chamberlain returned to her former prison, showing it to Federal Court Justice Trevor Morling. He's assessing the Chamberlains' claim for compensation from the Territory government. - I was taking him through the prison, and he's like, 'I've seen enough. I wanna go.' And I thought, 'Well, that's interesting. 'I lived it, but you can't handle walking through it because your mind is obviously going... '"I know this person's innocent and this is what they had to endure."' - 12 years after their baby Azaria disappeared at Ayres Rock, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain have received compensation for wrongful conviction. - The Chamberlains were widely believed to have received $1.3 million in compensation from the Northern Territory government. The sum didn't cover their legal bills. - I remember saying, 'Lord, I'm up to here with men, 'but if you've got other ideas and think I shouldn't be on my own, well, you can jolly well find one.' - Arriving in the US for a speaking tour with Aidan and Reagan, Lindy and the boys are shown around by fellow Adventist, Rick Creighton. - I saw a level of pain like I don't think I've ever seen before, and I knew they were survivors, all in that just split second. - Then he walked around a corner with Reagan, and Reagan was looking back and laughing. And I thought, 'What's going on here? Reagan does not relax easily like that.' And I thought, 'Wow. There's quite a bit to this guy.' (GENTLE MUSIC) (LAUGHTER) - Oh, isn't this a lovely wedding, ladies and gentlemen? - MAN: Tell me your thoughts. - What did you want, a penny for my thoughts? They're worth a million bucks. (LAUGHTER) - Lindy, Reagan and Kahlia moved to the United States, while Aidan returned to Australia and completed his apprenticeship. - She had been to hell and back. For the first couple of years, she didn't answer the phone. She slept a lot. She watched a lot of vintage movies. And she started her journey of healing. - She's survived the best she can. You always want more for your family. Rick, he'll always give and support. There's never been a moment where he hasn't. And we are all very lucky to have him there and very thankful. Very divine intervention, maybe. He's probably... Maybe not so lucky for him. - The kids loved it because they weren't Chamberlains. They were just Reagan and Kahlia. - And we're gonna be one environment, and I'm not gonna be in Australia. I'm not going to be Kahlia Chamberlain anymore. I'm gonna be just whoever I wanna be. It was magical. - It's kind of like I dropped a, you know, heavy backpack. The shackles sort of released when I realised people didn't know who I was. So I was able to grow up a lot. - Reagan has probably been the most hurt through all of this because it was him that the dingo walked over that night to get to his sister. That kind of thing doesn't go away easily. - It was too much for me to process. Even now,... Occasionally I'll get` some of the stuff that's been locked down will release, but most of it's still just, for whatever reason, is either gone now because it's been so many years later, or subconsciously, I'm still clamping it shut. - Kahlia and I have the misfortune of being perfectionist idealists. That can be a lifelong battle. - You put me under pressure, and I'll` I'm my mother. You put Aidan under pressure, and he` he is my father. He just has my father's charm, but he also has my dad's, um, crumble and cry. - I'd I have to say, Mum and Dad gave me my... what grit I may have, what stubbornness I may have. I think some people find it easier to talk about things more in their lives. If others tried hard, they might find it easier too. I don't know, but... We're all built differently. - Two days after I first arrived in Australia, he took me for a drive up into the mountains to a secret place. As he pulled up in one spot. and he goes, 'When it gets too tough, this is where I come to think.' And you know, when a 19-year-old is showing you where he comes to think, that you've just been let in on something really special. So, yeah. I'm privileged. No question. * (BROODING MUSIC) - The Chamberlains were back in court with their long-standing solicitor, Stuart Tipple, for a third coronial inquest. - It should just be a formal recording that the Chamberlains had nothing to do with Azaria's death. And the second is that she died accidentally after being taken by a dingo from the tent. - The coroner, John Lowndes, found the Chamberlains had nothing to do with the death of Azaria, but he would not conclusively say that a dingo was responsible. He recorded the cause and manner of Azaria's death as unknown. - So I guess this may not be the end of the case after all. - ARCHIVE: The Territory government says the Chamberlains have pursued all the legal avenues available to them. - The coroner's report has been finalised. That is, from our point of view, the end of the issue. And so it should be, too, from the Chamberlain's point of view. - Without a finding, it's still an unsolved mystery, even if it's one of the most solved mysteries without an actual written finding. (LAUGHS) - The Chamberlains had faded from the public gaze, but a series of tragedies across Australia brought Azaria's case back into the spotlight. - ARCHIVE: One week ago today, 9-year-old Clinton Gage was killed after being attacked by two dingoes. The Gage family was camping at Waddy Point on Fraser Island when the tragedy happened. Today, that camping site was closed. - ARCHIVE: Many locals say the state government has ignored the island's dingo problem for years. - If the Azaria Chamberlain case had been dealt with properly, that little boy on Fraser Island may not have... been a victim of a dingo because people might have become scared of dingoes a lot earlier. - On the 30th anniversary of Azaria's death, Lindy wrote an open letter. - ARCHIVE: In a stunning development, the Northern Territory government has ordered an inquiry to make a conclusive finding. The move comes after Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton published this open letter, calling for her daughter's death certificate to reflect the findings of a royal commission which cleared her name. - There are now coroners who have not dealt with the case before who... would be impartial, and it could go back to one of them. (POIGNANT MUSIC) (CAMERAS SHUTTERS CLICK) (INDISTINCT CHATTER) - This inquest has been reopened to receive information not available to previous inquests. Having considered all of the evidence, including evidence gathered of deaths and attacks by dingoes since the death of Azaria, I am satisfied, beyond the required standard, of the following matters: Mr and Mrs Chamberlain and their three children arrived at Uluru on Saturday the 16th of August 1980. They were not alone, with six families in the camping area ` the Wests, the Habys, the Lowes and the Whittakers. Shortly after, Mrs Chamberlain returned to the barbecue. Mrs Lowe heard a baby cry from the tent. Mrs Chamberlain went immediately to check on Azaria and, moments later, cried out either, 'That dog's got my baby,' or, 'My God, my God, a dingo's got my baby.' It is clear that there is evidence that, in particular circumstances, a dingo is capable of attacking and taking and causing the death of young children. I am satisfied that the evidence is sufficiently adequate, clear, cogent and exact. The formal findings as required by the act that I make are: the name of the deceased was Azaria Chantel Loren Chamberlain. She was the daughter of Michael Leigh Chamberlain and Alice Lynne Chamberlain. Azaria died at Uluru, then known as Ayers Rock, on the 17th of August 1980. The cause of her death was as the result of being attacked and taken by a dingo. Mrs Chamberlain-Creighton, Mr Chamberlain, Aidan and your extended families, please accept my sincere sympathy (TEARFULLY) on the death of your special and loved daughter and sister Azaria. I'm so sorry for your loss. (SOMBRE MUSIC) Time does not remove the pain and sadness of the death of a child. - Wouldn't you know I'd have to be a woman to get it right. (LAUGHS) - I'm very thankful of the lovely lady being so strong to put it right. I think it was right in the beginning. Then got trashed, and then it got right again. (SCATTERED APPLAUSE) - ARCHIVE: Surely now we have seen the end of what has been the most controversial and enduring legal sagas in this country. Together, they walked around the corner to collect that elusive piece of paper from the Office of Births, Deaths and Marriages. - Ladies and gentlemen, sometimes justice takes 32 years, but here it is. Let me tell you, it's worth the effort. - LINDY: They have finally got it right, and I can lay down the burden of fighting. It's like a weight's off my shoulders. I'm not leaving something for my kids to deal with. I'm not leaving a legacy for my grandchildren to say, 'That's not true. My grandmother didn't.' They'd just go, 'Well, you're stupid. Just look at history.' - This battle has taken too long. However, I'm here to tell you that you can get justice even when you think that all is lost. (GENTLE MUSIC) - In 2013, Lindy wrote a letter to her 16-year-old self. - LINDY READS: Dear Lynne, at 16, the morals and ethics you hold now are pretty spot on the money. They'll become clearer to you, though, as learnt how to implement them. Truth and justice are always important, and you have no way of knowing how that will impact on your future or the importance they'll hold in your life. SHAKILY: Don't let anyone tell you it won't matter as long as you and God know the truth. - There was a cartoon that I came across in three frames. And in my view, during that middle process, I got to hate Australia. - The story I like is all the secret people hiding in the mist. How did they imagine that? What was their agenda? How can you facilitate that, to be brave enough to push and to generate a story and a role that's so hard away from the facts, the truths? How can` How can you unplug something, tip it on its head and move it so far? I think that's the interesting thing. - LINDY READS: Dig your heels in, if necessary, and stand firm. You will receive flak for it often, but don't let that faze you. - The whole attitude of the government towards her, I think there's an accountability that some people,... they never went to jail. - Well, the Chamberlain case was one of the great miscarriages of justice in Australian history. The country still owes a huge debt of sympathy and remorse and apology to Lindy Chamberlain and her family for what they went through. - LINDY READS: Letting something that hurt you take over your thoughts in either regret or revenge is a fool's choice, and you are no fool. - I think she's one of the strongest Australian women ever had, you know. - But there still are people who think that she's guilty. Unbelievable. - Hmm. - LINDY READS: Forgiveness does not say that you are not hurt. Forgiveness is saying to yourself, 'I will move on in my life without regret, anger and preoccupation with this.' - Her faith has helped her to have the strength to carry on and do good. That's something we can all... learn from. - The picture that was painted of Lindy was a very ugly one. And, you know, I just dread to think where that` where the need to paint that picture came from. - I'm surprised at how many people have come and apologised for what I thought of my mother. There's a beauty and a humbleness in that. - I hope and I live constantly with only seeing and watching more truth come out and more people just own up and accept their mistakes or their wrongdoings, clear their conscience. - Aidan wants to say how much he loves his brother and sisters. (ALL CHUCKLE) That's what Aidan would like to share with you right now. - They already know that from me putting up with them all so much. (ALL LAUGH) - LINDY READS: From everything I've learnt in my life, this is the very best advice I can give you. So stick with it, kid. Life gets better every day. Lindy. - MAN: Lindy, why you? - Why not me? (BROODING MUSIC) Captions by Maeve Kelly and Sophie Pearce. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air.