Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Declan Laverty’s Mother Samara Laverty says she’ll be speaking at a Darwin crime rally today to make sure no other parents receives a phone call about their child being killed

Transcript

Declan Laverty’s Mother Samara Laverty says she’ll be speaking at a Darwin crime rally today to make sure no other parents receives a phone call about their child being killed · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The territory was heartbroken when we learned of the deaths
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: of bottle shop worker decland Lavity. Then last week that
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: grief struck the community once again when Bangladeshi student See
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Fat's life was lost in another act of senseless violence.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now is Declan Lavity's mum,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Samara Lavity. Good morning, Samara, good morning.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Thank you for having me.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining me on the show. Samara,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: how are you and your family going at the moment,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: up and down?
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: We're having good days, we're having bad days, and even
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: on the good days, we're having bad moments. There's just
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: so many things that reminds me of him, And yeah,
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: there's just so many memories that both my daughter and
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: I are trying to process and get through each day,
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: one step at a time.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Samaraw I can't imagine what it's been like for you
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: since losing Declan. I've got a I've got a son
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: and a daughter as well, much younger than your two
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: and I I actually just can't even comprehend the heartbreak
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: that you must be living.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: It's awful. It's a pain that I would not wish
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: on anyone else ever. It feels like half of my
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: heart has gone.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Samara. Last week we learned of another tragic loss of
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: life with international students, se Fat killed inside a home
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: in which he was staying here in Darwin. What was
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: it like for you when you found out about that
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: situation unfolding.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: I was shocked. Deathlin's death is tragic and horrific, but
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: for this one will have happened in the way it
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: happened that it was just unbelievable, and both my daughter
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: and I sat there and we tried, because now another
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: family knows what it's like to have to go through this.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: And the one thing I wanted and still want to
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: come out of Declin's death is that no other parent
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: has to deal with getting that phone call and being
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: told that their child is dead or is dying as
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: a result of somebody else's actions.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: No parents should have to go through what you've gone through.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: No parents should have to go through what sea Fat's
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: family going through right now. I understand that you reached
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: out to his family. Sorry, pattern did you reach out
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: to sea Fat's family?
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: I haven't. I have spoken to a few people who
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: were going to pass messages for me.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: Though, like I said, I you know, so it is
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: just a situation where I can't fathom how you and
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: your daughter are going at this point in time. And Samara,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: the thing that really struck me after the loss of
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Declam was the absolute outpouring of love from the Darwin community.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: People are really obviously incredibly upset by what's going on,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: but they really wanted you and your family to know
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: that they care about you and that they do not
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: want Declan's death to be in vain.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: I have received literally hundreds of messages from people Indo
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: and the support and the love and the cave that
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: we've been show and has just been phenomenal, amazing and
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: absolutely overwhelming. But my boy, my kid has impacted so
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: many thousands of people.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: He truly has. Honestly, I think that it's been a
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: real turning point for the Northern Territory where we all
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: knew that we were suffering from really serious issues with crime,
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: but what happened with Declan it broke everybody, and no
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: one more so than you and your family, But it
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: really made the community sort of sit up and go,
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: this is enough. This should not have happened. This young
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: man should not have lost his life.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: No, I absolutely agree, and it's had to take Declan's
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: passing to be the catalyst for change that it shouldn't
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: have to take someone dying for people to notice that
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: things are not right.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: You spot on, Samara, are you in Darwin today for
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: the crime rally?
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: I am. I will be speaking at the rally today and.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: What is your message for the Northern Territory government. Why
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: have you decided that you do want to stand up
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: and speak at that rally?
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: Because no other family should ever get that phone call
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: to hear the words that Declan has died. Broke something
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: fundamental in me and no other parents should ever have
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: to have that feeling. My daughter and her half sister
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: have lost their brother, the one that was going to
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: walk them down the aisle. Declon's half sister has a
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: one year old and is pregnant with another child. They're
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: never going to meet that uncle. There's just been so
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: much that has been absolutely stripped away from us and
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: our family and the person that Declin was becoming. I'm
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: so by things need to change.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm so sorry for the loss that you and
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: and your family are suffering and the ongoing, you know,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: the ongoing grief that you are all feeling. Samara, what
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: is your message to the government today. Do you feel
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: as though they have done enough following on from what's happened.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: I don't know very much at all about the political
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: side of Northern Territory politics. I've had a very very
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: quick lesson in how things have been perceived by different
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: factions of government, and my personal opinion is that there
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: just doesn't seem to have been enough acknowledgment towards the
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: crime levels. Because it's not just my son's death, it's
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: not Seafat death, it's not that poor lady who was
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: killed in the DV incident and the one that happens
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: the week before Declin died. That just doesn't seem to
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: have been any real, out there acknowledgments other than a
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: very basic This has happened, and it's tragic. But what's
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: happening on the ground to stop this? It's not an
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: easy answer, I get that, but something's got to start somewhere,
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: and as far as I can see, there hasn't been
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: a lot of notice put towards how the people in
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: the town feel. I kept coming into dawn yesterday. It's
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: a palpable feeling of apprehension wherever I went, and that
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: was sad and concerning because people are scared and something
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: needs to be done about that. But yeah, I haven't
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: seen anything about how they are really going to addresser
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: and how people's concerns are being taken into account.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Your spot on and look, I think it's really I've
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: been you know, I really respect the way that you've
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: conducted yourself and the way that you've stood up and
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: how and the strengths that you have shown over the
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: recent weeks in what is an unbelievable and undescribable situation.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: And then to stand up today, obviously and speak what's
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: you know, what is the main thing that you really
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: want the community and our decision makers in the territory
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: to know when you do stand up and speak today.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: Today is seven weeks and four days since I lost
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: my son. No other parent needs to be counting those days.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: No other parents should be putting their child carest at
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: the age of twenty or twenty three. And see if
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: that's case, it's it just should not be happening. And
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: please listen to what the people are saying. Everyone's angry,
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: everyone's hurt, everyone's set up. That anger is going to
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: have to go somewhere, and someone needs to the lobject
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: before it became hits boiling points and vigilante actions happen,
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: or revenge of hat like fighting fire with fire is
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: not going to work. People can't be out just doing
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: their own thing, and so that's to happen. Someone in
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: government needs to step forward and say this is not
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: going to happen. This is how we're going to address it.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: The multifaceted, multi factorial issue. But someone's got to start
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: the process somewhere.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Samara, there is no doubt that your boys had a
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: profound impact on Darwin. How do you want Deckland to
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: be remembered?
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: Funny? He was a funny, funny kid. He absolutely loved
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: his AFL beyond words to describe. He was very very
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: much a Richmond Tigers fan. But he's not just that
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: kid who has been killed at work in and is
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: now with the catalyst change. He was a person. He
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: was a brother, he was my baby boy, he lived
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: with his dad. He is a person, person, family, and
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: I think that's what people can relate to, is that
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: it could have been anyone's anyone's child, just at work
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: doing their job, and then this has happened. And it's
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: his story is relatable.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: Samara, thank you so much for speaking to me this morning,
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: and for speaking to the whole of the Northern Territory
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: and you know, sharing sharing that further sort of memory
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: of your son and the beautiful, beautiful kid that he was,
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: and for also speaking up for territorians, because I don't
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: think that anybody, aside from yourself and the families that
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: have lost loved ones through this really senseless violence. While
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: we've all felt really upset about what's going on in
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: the territory, no one can stand the loss that you
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: are going through and the way that it's impacted your family.
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: So I'm so grateful for you to open up and
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: have a talk to us this morning.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: Thank you for having me. We look forward to seeing
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: as many people as we can at the rally to
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: try and try and create some form of change.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: Samara, thank you. I really appreciate your time and all
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: the best while you're in Darwin.
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: Great Thank you, Thank you for having me