Chamberlains call for new inquest

11 Oct 2010, 6:47 pm   -   Source: AAP

The parents of Azaria Chamberlain called on the Northern Territory coroner to reopen an inquest into their daughter's death 30 years after she disappeared.

The parents of Azaria Chamberlain have called on the Northern Territory coroner to reopen an inquest into their baby daughter's death 30 years after she disappeared at Uluru.

Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton and her former husband Michael Chamberlain wrote to the NT attorney-general on Monday asking for the new investigation.

They want official records to state that "the death of Azaria was due to a dingo", Dr Chamberlain said.

In mid-August this year, Mrs Chamberlain-Creighton used the 30th anniversary of Azaria's disappearance to call for her death certificate to be changed to confirm a dingo or feral dog was responsible.

But now both parents want a coronial inquest reopened instead.

"Mrs Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton and Dr Michael Chamberlain applaud the Northern Territory government's initiative in re-examining the recording of their daughter Azaria's death," they said in a statement released by their lawyer.

"Today their lawyer Stuart Tipple has written to the Northern Territory attorney-general requesting that rather than having an inquiry under section 39 of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Act it is more appropriate that the coroner re-open the inquest under his statutory powers."

The first of three coronial inquests into Azaria's death found in 1981 it was likely a dingo took the nine-week-old baby.

But the second a year later resulted in the Chamberlains being committed to stand trial.

Mrs Chamberlain then spent three years in jail for murder before the charges against her were quashed in 1988 after a royal commission found the conviction "unsafe".

The third and final inquest in 1995 delivered an open finding.

Dr Chamberlain on Monday said the investigations of four Aboriginal trackers on the night of Azaria's disappearance on August 17, 1980 had never been examined rigorously.

"They were very clear in what they thought happened to Azaria," he told ABC Radio.

"The Northern Territory haven't really ever given a great deal of respect to that.

"I want to see the truth that they provided vindicated as well as the fact that the death of Azaria was due to a dingo."

A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Delia Lawrie confirmed the territory's top legal officer had received a letter from Azaria's parents via fax.

But she said Ms Lawrie couldn't order the coroner to reopen the case.

"The decision about whether or not to reopen a coronial inquest is really a matter for the coroner," the spokeswoman said.

The coroner, Greg Cavanagh, is yet to receive the Chamberlains' letter.

"There has been no application or request for a fourth inquest and there has been no determination on a fourth inquest," a spokeswoman told AAP.

She said Mr Cavanagh had indicated he wouldn't be involved in any decision regarding further investigations because he was part of the Chamberlains' original legal team.

Instead, another coroner will decide whether to reopen the inquest or hold a new one.

The NT registrar of births, deaths and marriages is currently conducting an inquiry into the status of Azaria's death certificate. It lists the cause of death as unknown.

"He does not propose that public hearings be held or oral evidence be taken," the justice department said in a statement.

"The inquiry will be limited to a review of relevant documents, including any written submissions or any new evidence Mrs Chamberlain-Creighton or Mr Chamberlain may wish to put forward."

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