Missing woman Marion Barter: Joan Hazlett testifies at Coroner’s Court inquest

A shock new witness has testified at the inquest into the disappearance and suspected death of Marion Barter, who hasn’t been seen for 25 years. Read how the fresh evidence centred on the withdrawal of money from a Byron Bay bank.

The inquest into the disappearance of missing woman Marion Barter has seen a surprise new witness appear in the Coroner’s Court - with claims that a person thought to be Ms Barter withdrew a large amount of cash from a Byron Bay bank the same year she was last seen.

Ms Barter was dropped off at a Surfers Paradise bus station in June 1997 for a year-long holiday in Europe.

The then 51-year-old flew back into Australia in August, under a new name, Florabella Natalia Marion Remakel, on a passenger card which stated she was married and resided in Luxembourg.

Joan Hazlett gave evidence to the Coroner’s Court at Lismore on Monday, October 17 - stating she contacted police in August 2020 after driving past a missing persons’ billboard at Grafton, which featured Ms Barter.

Ms Hazlett was a manager in the Byron Bay branch of what was then known as the Colonial State Bank, since taken over by the Commonwealth Bank.

Missing woman Marion Barter.

The Byron Bay woman testified that a woman resembling Ms Barter withdrew a significant amount of money from the bank, and as manager, Ms Hazlett was asked to speak to her as a result of the unusual size of the withdrawal.

“From my recollection, I took her to the side and asked some questions - she was fully aware I was doing a report,” Ms Hazlett said.

She told the court that a bank report of that nature would have required a manager to sight some form of identification and in this instance she did so, but could not recall specifically the form of that ID.

When asked about the typical threshold for suspicious transaction reports at the time, Ms Hazlett could not recall the specific numerical amount, but stated it would be either $5000 or $10,000, and could be triggered by multiple smaller transactions or lump sums.

Joan Hazlett.

The court heard Ms Barter had made multiple smaller withdrawals from the Byron Bay bank without going to the ATM at the front of the bank, which Ms Hazlett recalled because it was unusual for customers with keycards to not make those withdrawals from ATMs.

Documents tendered in court showed that Ms Barter had opened an account with the Colonial State Bank in 1994 at a branch in Ashmore, near her home suburb of Southport.

Ms Hazlett testified that Ms Barter had told her that she was visiting Byron Bay on holiday, and that she planned to visit Bali and “find herself”.

While she couldn’t recall the specific name, Ms Hazlett said that Ms Barter had requested to be known by a different name.

“We honestly thought she was a bit of a flip - it was an airy fairy sort of name,” she said.

Ms Hazlett testified that the woman she was “90 per cent certain” of being Ms Barter wore a white hibiscus in her hair.

Asked whether she was certain that the interaction took place in 1997, Ms Hazlett said she thought it was that year because Byron Bay was experiencing particularly heavy inflows of tourists, particularly since Silverchair had played for the first time.

Silverchair headlined the inaugural Homebake festival in Byron Bay in 1996, but there is no record of them having played there in 1997.

Ms Barter’s parents died without knowing what happened to her - while her son Owen died by suicide shortly after her disappearance.

The State Coroner, Magistrate O’Sullivan, adjourned the inquest until October 27.