Coronial inquest date set to examine death of Huon Valley man, Jari Wise

A mother who fought tirelessly for an inquest to be set into the death of her son has shared her emotional thoughts moments after a date was finally set. Find out who is set to give evidence.

Mother of Jari Wise (inset), Faith Tkalac. An inquest date has been set to examine the death of Jari Wise.

A mother who fought tirelessly an inquest to be called into the death of her young son has shared her emotional thoughts moments after a date was finally set.

Faith Tkalac, the mother of 26-year-old Jari Wise – who died after he was struck by a car driven by on-off girlfriend Melissa Oates – was present in the public gallery of the Hobart Coroner’s Court on Friday when an inquest date was set.

The court heard the inquest’s scope would look at the circumstances surrounding the February 26, 2020 death of Mr Wise, and answer questions including: who the deceased was, how he died, his cause of death, and when and where his death occurred.

A court previously heard that after knocking Mr Wise down, Oates drove away and left his body on the road and was later found to have a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit.

She was charged with dangerous driving, drink driving and failing to stop and assist in an accident.

Faith Tkalac and her son Jari Wise, who died when he was struck by a car driven by his on-off girlfriend, Melissa Oates. Picture: Supplied

Oates was never charged with manslaughter or causing Mr Wise’s death.

She was in April 2021 sentenced to 14 months’ jail, of which she served eight in custody.

Witnesses including Oates, a senior constable and a doctor are set to be called in the expected two-day inquest.

Two further witnesses will also be called, and are expected to give evidence that they had previously seen Mr Wise jumping in front of cars before his death.

A lawyer for Ms Tkalac said the pair should be called to assess the “veracity” of those claims.

Coroner Simon Cooper set the inquest for September 4 and 5 this year.

(L to R): Hamish McLean, Faith Tkalac and Ben Mildren at an April 2023 rally calling for an inquest into Jari’s death. Photo: Katie Hall

Speaking to the Mercury after the case management conference, Ms Tkalac said the setting of an inquest date made her “lost for words”.

“It makes it all feel incredibly real again; I’m a little bit lost for words,” Ms Tkalac said.

“I worked so hard to get here and now it’s happening. I don’t know, it feels a little bit like the beginning again.”

The calling of an inquest comes after years of fierce campaigning by Ms Tkalac, relatives and friends of Mr Wise – with Attorney-General Elise Archer in May overturning a Supreme Court decision not to direct an inquest.

Ms Archer at the time said she had made the decision to exercise her powers to compel the coroner to determine exactly what happened on the night of Mr Wise’s death.