Hannah Clarke’s parents Lloyd and Sue prepare to relocate to Sunshine Coast

Five years after the tragedy that horrified the nation and crushed a close-knit Queensland family, Lloyd and Sue Clarke are ready to begin their next chapter. But it’s a move that’s not without deep sadness.

Lloyd and Sue Clarke are preparing to close the door on their life in Brisbane and move to the Sunshine Coast. Picture: Lachie Millard

Five years after a tragedy that horrified the nation and shattered a close-knit Queensland family, Lloyd and Sue Clarke are ready to begin their next chapter.

While the agony of the murders of their daughter Hannah and grandchildren Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey on February 19, 2020, will never leave, Lloyd and Sue say it’s time for a fresh start.

Their southeast Brisbane home – the last place they saw Hannah and her babies alive and the precious keeper of so many memories – will soon go on the market as the couple relocates permanently to the Sunshine Coast.

The beach is their happy place, as it was Hannah’s.

“We couldn’t have left this house a few years ago, no way, but we feel it’s time,” says Sue, in the dining room with the eggplant-coloured walls where countless meals have been shared over nearly four decades.

Sue and Lloyd Clarke are preparing to relocate on the Sunshine Coast as the fifth anniversary of the death of daughter Hannah and her children nears. Picture: Lachie Millard

They’ll also be parting with their furniture, including heirloom antiques, as they settle into a newly decorated three-bedroom unit at Moffat Beach – bought with the payout from Hannah’s life insurance policy.

All they will take are some clothes, family photos, and Aaliyah and Laianah’s toys.

“I haven’t thrown out the girls’ dolls yet, it’s just too hard, I have no girls left,” Sue says through tears.

The Clarkes describe themselves as ordinary people whose whole lives changed on that awful Wednesday morning when Hannah’s ex-partner unleashed all his evil and killed the innocents he sought to control.

Sue and Lloyd say the beach is their happy place, as it was for their daughter and her children.

He ambushed Hannah and their children outside the Clarkes’ Camp Hill home where they had sought refuge just weeks earlier.

Jumping into the passenger seat of Hannah’s car, he doused the four with petrol then set them alight in an adjacent street.

Hannah Clarke with her children Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey.

Aaliyah, 6, Laianah, 4, and Trey, 3, perished in the blaze, while brave Hannah, with 97 per cent burns to her body, incredibly managed to tell police what had happened before later passing away in hospital.

The perpetrator died of a self-inflicted knife wound, after shouting at neighbours to stop putting out the flames.

Following this most heinous of crimes, Sue and Lloyd somehow marshalled their grief and their anger and made a united decision to push for change.

Teddy bears left at the scene where Hannah and her children were attacked by her estranged partner. Picture: AAP image, John Gass

Through the Small Steps 4 Hannah Foundation, they have worked tirelessly to educate the community about coercive control, and successfully lobbied for it to be a stand-alone criminal offence that carries a maximum penalty of 14 years’ jail.

In January they were awarded an OAM for their service to domestic violence support and welfare, and in 2022 named Queensland Australians of the Year.

Looking back, Lloyd says they were “fiercely motivated to make sure such atrocities were not in vain”.

While they remain completely committed to the cause – on the morning we catch up they’ve just come from a board meeting – they are also seeking a quieter life.

A life where they can just be Lloyd and Sue, from the Sunny Coast.

People drop off flowers at the street where Hannah and her children were attacked. Picture: John Gass/AAP

“We went from ordinary people, happy to hide in the background, to people who are now recognised, which is very hard to deal with,” Lloyd explains.

A simple trip to the shopping centre can quickly turn traumatic.

“Most people mean well, and we’ve had some wonderful support,” says Lloyd, 64, as Sue, 63, nods in agreement.

“Some are gracious and they go, ‘Hi, I’d just like to say well done with what you’re doing’; they say, ‘You guys are brilliant’; they give us a nice little rap and then move on.

“But others want to tell us their story, they go on and on, we can’t get away.”

Sue smiles at her husband of nearly 39 years and adds: “I understand people need to tell their story but it also re-traumatises us, which they probably don’t realise.”

Over these five painful years, Lloyd and Sue – now retired from their respective jobs as a scaffold supervisor and dental nurse – have learned a lot about coercive control, a term they’d never heard before.

“We knew he (the killer) was playing games, controlling what Hannah could and could not do, but we didn’t know what it was called,” Lloyd says.

“He had a sick mindset and, unfortunately, they all seem to study from the same text book,” says Sue, referring to other perpetrators.

“That’s why education is the key.”

Small Steps 4 Hannah has two programs.

Sue and Lloyd have worked tirelessly to educate the community about coercive control. Picture: David Clark

HALT (an acronym for Hannah, Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey) educates year 7-12 students about respectful relationships and has been developed by Hannah’s close friend Dave Kramer, a behavioural scientist.

The second is Hannah’s Story, an interactive resource that identifies red flags of coercive control. It’s run by Michael Jeh, a DV prevention advocate, and has been rolled out across Queensland, NSW, South Australia and Tasmania.

“We’re getting great results, not just with the general public but with police and the departments of justice,” says Lloyd.

Hannah Clarke and her children Aaliyah, Laianah and baby Trey.

“Police are telling us they did the program in the morning and that afternoon they’re on a shift and have found evidence they wouldn’t otherwise have found, and they managed to get a perpetrator put away.

“It’s just rolling on and it’s so rewarding.”

The foundation runs on donations, and Lloyd and Sue don’t take a wage.

“We don’t want any money for it,” Sue says.

“We couldn’t help our family, so if we can save other lives then it’s worth it.

“And also, Hannah, her wish was to become a police officer so she could help women like herself.

“She met a wonderful policewoman when she first went to the police about it, who inspired her because she listened and made Hannah feel validated.

“Hannah was a different person after she spoke to her … so it’s not quite what she wanted, but hopefully we’re still helping.”

The foundation, which has raised $1 million since 2020, also supports other charities, providing grants totalling more than $400,000, and in 2023, Hannah’s Sanctuary opened in Brisbane.

Lloyd and Sue at a candlelight vigil for National Domestic Violence month in 2024. Picture: David Clark

A collaboration with Beyond DV and a local philanthropist, the transitional housing complex of nine townhouses has already helped dozens of women.

Lloyd and Sue are grateful the monster who murdered their loved ones is dead.

“I said to the police at the time I wanted him to rot in jail,” Sue says.

“But they said we’re better off because they (perpetrators) get protected in jail – and you just keep going through it.

“Like we’re friends with the Carrolls, the family of Kelly Wilkinson (stabbed by Brian Earl Johnston then set on fire in 2021).

“They’ve had the inquest, they’ve had his trial (Johnston was jailed for life) and the trial of his friend (Bradley Bell, accused of aiding the killer, was found not guilty of murder and walked free).

“It’s never ending for them,” Sue says.

“And every time he (Johnston) comes up for parole, they’re going to have to go and give reasons why he shouldn’t come out.”

Sue and Lloyd know that closing the pressed glass door of their post-war home for the last time will be tough – but the coast is calling.

They’re looking forward to daily walks on the beach, and visits from their son Nat, daughter-in-law Stacey and their four remaining grandchildren – Jayden, 8, Tyler, 6, Archie, 3, Cove, 1.

But most of all, they are looking forward to just being Lloyd and Sue, from the Sunny Coast.

“We always wanted to be at the coast,” says Lloyd.

“It was always a dream of mine to end up there, but I never thought it’d happen.

“It was Hannah’s happy place, too, and she’s made it possible.”

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Originally published as Hannah Clarke’s parents Lloyd and Sue prepare to relocate to Sunshine Coast