I’ve contemplated for a while, since I began to seriously research Sallie-Anne Huckstepp, about whether or not I wanted to write about her publicly. I guess you can call this a passion project, for lack of a better term. However, it initially started with my interest/disdain for police corruption. I’m no expert, on anything, really; but when society relies on a “carefully” constructed system that dictates how law and order is upheld in our country and that system reeks of corruption and injustice, I wholeheartedly believe that we have the right to know.
The inception of law enforcement in Australia is nothing short of a paradox itself. Soon after Australia was colonised in 1788, Governor Arthur Phillip created the first Australian Police, known then as “The Night Watch” consisting entirely of convicts. The majority of convicts being transported to Australia during this time were for offences relating to theft, from pickpocketing to highway robbery. More serious and violent offences like rape and murder were usually punishable by death and it wasn’t common that they were transported, though it did happen. I can’t know this for sure, but I would assume the convicts chosen for police duties were perpetrators of these minor offences as it has been stated in multiple sources they were “the best behaving convicts”.
Nevertheless, government corruption is not some wild conspiracy theory. It has been documented since the late 1800’s and is just as prevalent today. There are many people who already publicly speak on this, some with firsthand experience, and these are the people I learn from and admire for speaking out when it can (and does) make them a target.
I don’t have firsthand experience, I’m not a journalist or a writer, but I unknowingly had a familial connection with someone who did experience it, exposed it and wrote about it. She was also brutally murdered for it.
The biggest obstacle for me has been one of ethics. Sallie-Anne’s life was complicated and anyone who knows about her is familiar with how the media has summarised her as a person. There is much about Sallie-Anne that most wouldn’t know unless they did their research, and those are the things that I want to write about.
From a very young age Sallie-Anne was failed by the “system”, and those failings are still as pervasive as they were in the 60’s and 70’s. While that is our reality, we still need to talk about it, to question it, to challenge it, to blow the whistle when it is necessary. Sallie-Anne Huckstepp left a mark on Australian history; she is deservedly labelled as a hero. However controversial her lifestyle may have been, the choices and mistakes she made, she has left a legacy that needs to continue to be known for decades to come and inspire others not to trust our government with blind faith.
When you become a public figure, regardless of how or why, it is inevitable that people are going to want to know about you and people will write about you. Sallie-Anne liked being in the public eye and had always wanted to be an actress. It is my personal belief that she wouldn’t want her story to fade with time. Her bravery and defiance and her ultimate sacrifice have cemented her in Australian history and without people like Sallie-Anne Huckstepp we wouldn’t know the truth about the institutions that systematically fail to protect us and live by the laws they are paid to enforce.
I have had an interest in true crime since my angsty teen years, long before podcasts existed. But as the genre’s popularity has grown over the years, and podcasting became a new method of which to consume information, so has the number of people that use this subject to exploit victims and victim’s families for monetary gain. It can be difficult wading through an oversaturated market to find the podcasters and reporters that uphold ethics and morality. So, I am mindful of what I write when I am speaking for someone else. I’m mindful of my intention and my own motive for doing it. Like I mentioned, I am related to Sallie-Anne, though only by marriage, and her family are also victims of what happened to her. They have had to live through extreme hardship and re-live it numerous times. Is it ethical that I would be digging up old wounds?
Is it even my place? I suppose the answer to that is subjective, but that has been the nagging question that’s held me back for almost a year. Maybe it isn’t, I don’t know. I still can’t sit here with 100% confidence and say that it is, and I probably never will. But I would like to tell you about her as I have come to understand her. And through her, tell you about not just the corruption she exposed but the mistreatment she encountered as a child from the justice system, the manipulation and controlling behaviour of a much older man and the barbaric torture inflicted on her in a Sydney Psychiatric facility.
These questions are why I have hesitated, though I don’t think that is a bad thing. I can’t in good faith write about morality and ethics if I don’t practice those myself. Anything done with even the best of intentions will not please everyone, so I would like to mention that if I offend or upset Sallie-Anne’s family in any way I would like to know, and moving forward I will consider this when I’m writing about her. That said, most of the information I have is already publicly available and I will present it as factually as I know it to be.
I want to point out that while this is heavily focussed on Sallie-Anne Huckstepp’s life, I do discuss myself and my life (to some degree) throughout. If you are strictly interested in learning about Sallie-Anne, I cannot recommend author John Dale’s book enough. Huckstepp: A Dangerous Life is the most comprehensive account available about Sallie-Anne. From her childhood through to her murder trial, John Dale recounts firsthand information from police sources, family and friends as well as his own experiences attending her murder trial. I will reference John and his book throughout; he has given me complete access to every piece of information he collected and every detail he learned over the decades and donated to the New South Wales State Library. I have access to court transcripts, police reports, original literature written by Sallie-Anne and so much more. A privilege I don’t take lightly and one I am very grateful for.
Discussing government corruption will come with political discourse. In a time where social and political tension is at an all-time high, I know that some things, or maybe a lot of things I write about will piss some people off.
These topics are inherently political. If you don’t want to read about politics then this isn’t the place for you, and that’s totally ok.
I want Sallie-Anne’s story to be first I tell, and I want to honour her memory by creating this space to scream into the void about injustice and give others the opportunity to do the same in hopes it will reach the right people. We’re never all going to agree on everything but let’s keep in mind who the real enemy is.
References:
https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stories/convict-experience
Huckstepp: A Dangerous Life – John Dale
Her Achilles Heel 
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