Brendan Luxton case: Alarming witness claim must be probed with urgency

OPINION: Shocking witness claims of a cover-up in the case of Brendan Luxton, who suicided after a hotel quarantine fiasco, must be thoroughly investigated, writes Kylie Lang.

There are more than 9000 words in the coroner’s rigorous dissection of the Queensland Health quarantine debacle that preceded the suicide of Brendan Luxton. But nine words stand out like the proverbial: She felt pressure to respond, I do not recall.

The findings by coroner Christine Clements are terrible enough, but for an army officer involved in the case to state she felt pressed by the government to give false evidence is truly appalling.

The coronial process might be complete, but this cannot be allowed to be the end of it.

Brendan Luxton died July 17, 2020.

This newspaper, sent a copy of the report by Mr Luxton’s family, contacted Queensland Health and Metro North at 8.42am Friday, asking for a response by 3pm to the question: “Have you investigated this claim?”

This question – among a series of others – went unanswered. Metro North did not respond at all.

Then, at 1.53pm on Saturday, they revised their approach, issuing a joint statement that the Metro North Hospital and Health Service would commission an investigation, and take action against inappropriate conduct.

This must happen, with a sense of urgency. The grieving family of Brendan Luxton has already been put through hell.

The errors that occurred while Mr Luxton’s depression and anxiety were spiralling out of control within the four walls of the Brisbane Marriott from July 2-16, 2020, are shocking.

Then, after Mr Luxton suicided, his stricken sister Marita Corbett reached out to the Premier. At no time during the quarantine fiasco did the family leverage its decades-long friendship with the girl they called “Stacia”. Instead, they trusted the process.

Ms Palaszczuk’s office denied Mrs Corbett’s August 2 request to meet yet two weeks later mentioned the suicide of “a lovely man I went to school with who sadly lost his life” during a mental health funding announcement. Mr Luxton’s grieving family was disgusted.

And they continue to mourn an unfathomable loss.

Kylie Lang is associate editor at the Courier-Mail