‘What happened to Annie should never happen again’: Shorten joins Annie Smith vigil

A grim roll call of victims of horrific abuses, including Ann Marie Smith, has marked one year since the discovery of her horrifying death.

People with Disability Australia board member Nicole Lee and Opposition leader Bill Shorten at a vigil for Ann Marie Smith on the steps of Parliament House, marking one year since the death, Tuesday, April 6, 2021. Picture: Brenton Edwards

More than 150 people gathered in Adelaide on Tuesday night to mark the death of disability neglect victim Ann Marie Smith one year ago.

Hers was among a sobering list of 15 names called out at the vigil on the steps of State Parliament.

They were South Australians with disabilities who died following neglect, abuse and violence in the past two decades.

Among those mentioned were Kyla Puhl, a 29-year-old with severe disabilities who died weighing 12kg; Helen Dansie, drowned in her wheelchair in a pond aged 67; and Ms ‘Annie’ Smith, who had cerebral palsy, and died aged 54 from septic shock and organ failure.

Ann Marie Smith at her parents home in Skye where she lived until her father's sudden death in 2009. Picture: supplied by family

Ann Marie Smith happy at a social occasion in 2011 with her dogs Maggie and Deana. Picture: SAPOL

“Listening to that roll call was very uncomfortable and incredibly sad,” Labor’s NDIS spokesman Bill Shorten said.

“What happened to Annie should never happen again,” he said.

“Hers was an avoidable death – it was preventable.”

The vigil gathered around a solitary cane chair, similar to the one in which Ms Smith allegedly lived out the last few months of her life. Among the crowd was an Integrity Care worker who said she wished she had known of Ms Smith’s tragic circumstances. “I would have done anything to help if I’d known,” she said.

Peter Dansie was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his disabled wife Helen Dansie.

Ms Smith’s estranged brother, who did not wish to be named to protect his family’s privacy, said he was overwhelmed by the gathering of support.

“I know we didn’t get along but I did love her – why didn’t she just pick up the phone and ask for help – I would have been there,” he told The Advertiser.

The vigil was organised by national disability groups, including People With Disability Australia.

“Women with disability are forgotten and isolated – more so than their non-disabled sisters who many have marched for in the streets in protest to end violence against women just last month,” said PWDA president Sam Connor.

Manslaughter-accused carer Rosemary Maione leaves the Adelaide Women’s Prison after being released on bail. Picture: Brenton Edwards

“We need to now stand for justice for Annie and those like her,” said Ms Connor.

Ms Smith died on April 6 last year.

A day earlier she arrived, by ambulance, malnourished at the Royal Adelaide Hospital where she underwent surgery to remove rotting flesh caused by severe pressure sores.

Her disability carer Rosemary Maione is facing manslaughter charges. Maione’s employer, Integrity Care SA, was banned last August from providing NDIS services by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission.

To report abuse and neglect of people living with disability call 1800 880 052