Dreamworld inquest: Will you go to the Gold Coast theme park knowing what we now know?
It was a place that incited pure joy for Queensland kids growing up in the 1980s and 1990s. But with the revelations that it was “luck” that more people did not die, would you go back? TAKE THE POLL.
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IT WAS a word that incited pure joy for Queensland kids growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s: Dreamworld.
At the end of the day, driving up the highway, sunburnt, over-sugared and queasy from too many turns on the Gravitron, you would beg your parents to commit to an imminent return.
It was a place of unbridled excitement, adventure and happiness.
Until October 25, 2016, when Roozi Araghi, Luke Dorsett, Kate Goodchild and Cindy Low were killed on the Thunder River Rapids ride.
The nation’s hearts broke for these young souls and their families, many who watched the unfathomable deaths unfold before them, unable to help.
And yet, the crowds still returned to Dreamworld.
The tradition of glee continued. Carloads of excited kids still piled up the red steps.
It was just a terrible accident, they thought, before rushing on with their day of fun.
But this was not some fluke tragedy.
Four people were killed due to “total and systemic failures” coroner James McDougall said as he handed down the inquest findings yesterday.
“There was no evidence that Dreamworld ever conducted a proper engineering risk assessment on the ride during it’s 30 years of commission,” he added.
The fact that more people have not died at Dreamworld over the years was simply “good luck”.
Dreamworld failed the families of the dead _ and failed us all.
As we were flung around shrieking in delight, any of us could have been killed due to a complete and utter disregard for safety.
Those deaths should never have happened.
Knowing this, how can we possibly share our childhood memories with our own children?
How could anyone let their loved ones on a theme park ride again?
Dreamworld is no longer a word of joy. It will forever be soaked with the blood of those innocent victims and with our tears.
Lucy Carne is editor of Rendezview.com.au
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