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NT 'can look into' Chamberlain apology

The Northern Territory government has flagged a possible formal apology for the Chamberlain family, after one of Michael Chamberlain's last wishes was revealed.

3 min read

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Source: AAP


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The Northern Territory government has said it would be willing to look into a formal apology after Michael Chamberlain's death.

Acting NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles acknowledged the pain Mr Chamberlain and then-wife Lindy went through, accused of the murder of daughter Azaria.

"It was an absolute tragedy what that family went through," she said. "In terms of a formal apology, if that's what the family would like then that's something the government can look into."

Mr Chamberlain died last week following complications from acute leukaemia at the age of 72.

A day before he died, he told friends and family he wanted an apology from the NT government, close friend and defence lawyer Stuart Tipple told reporters outside Mr Chamberlain's memorial service on Monday.

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"He did want an apology from the Northern Territory and it still hasn't been received," Mr Tipple said.

Stephen Hatton, the NT's chief minister at the time of the Chamberlains' pardon in 1987, has defended the territory government, saying it had "acted fairly all the way through".

"The NT police force and judicial system shouldn't be continually facing this level of ongoing national and international acrimony," he told AAP.

"We need to remember the Northern Territory government initiated the inquiry that eventually freed them.

"We didn't do it under pressure, we did it because it was a fair thing to do."

Mr Chamberlain was also still fighting "bureaucratic challenges" to have a memorial plaque for Azaria placed at Uluru, Mr Tipple said on Monday.

Azaria's disappearance from a tent during the Chamberlains' family holiday at Uluru sparked one of the most polarising and lengthy legal sagas in Australian history.

Michael and Lindy Chamberlain were ultimately convicted and then exonerated over their daughter's death, but vindication didn't come until the fourth inquest in 2012 when a coroner ruled Azaria had been killed by a dingo.

Azaria's death began a challenging chapter in the Chamberlain family's lives, eldest son Aidan told the hundreds-strong service at Avondale College Seventh Day Adventist Church on the NSW Central Coast, as he described the toll it had taken on his father.

"He was a great man in so many ways, yet so broken and crushed in many others," Aidan said, flanked by his siblings, Reagan and Kahlia.


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