Opinion: Too much remains unknown in Whiskey Au Go Go case

The Whiskey Au Go Go inquest is the last chance for grieving families to learn the truth, but troubling aspects remain, writes Kate Kyriacou.

Perhaps the most important evidence presented in the Whiskey Au Go Go inquest happened on its opening day – when statements written by the heartbroken families of victims were read out to the court.

Time heals no wounds – not even nearly 50 years’ worth of time.

Fifteen people died in the fire that ripped through the nightclub in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley in March 1973. Fifteen families have grieved ever since.

“I want to go to the gravesite of my parents,” said Denise Koch, who lost her 24-year-old sister Wendy Drew, “and tell them they can rest easy because the story of Wendy has been told in truth.”

It must have been unsettling for those families to hear that a senior detective with years of experience investigating homicides had choked up on the stand as she described being told to remove pages of evidence from the brief she’d constructed.

Inspector L.J. Bardwell inspects the damage at the Whiskey Au Go Go in 1973.

And it must have been more unsettling still that a lawyer representing police wanted the allegations levelled by that detective suppressed.

Journalists who cover coronial inquests have a challenging job. Day after day, they sit in court while witnesses are cross examined or questioned on material the journalist has not seen.

They are questioned about the contents of documents and statements – reams of documents and statements – that the public (and journalists) do not see.

Journalists do their best to accurately interpret what is being said.

We don’t know what was in the full report written by Detective Sergeant Virginia Gray – nor do we know what her superior asked her to take out.

The inquest was told only that it was information critical of the initial police investigation, including assertions that firebomber James Finch was “verballed” by police.

We don’t know the veracity of that information.

Regardless, her full report was given to the coroner, along with the shorter version she’d cut back at her superior’s request.

For the families, this is surely their last chance for an open, accountable and transparent inquiry into the deaths of the loved ones they lost.

In the midst of cut-down reports and suppression orders, they must wonder if that is what they will get.