Dreamworld disaster victims’ families invited to share heartache before inquest findings

A Queensland coroner has issued an emotional invitation to the families of the victims of the Dreamworld Thunder River Rapids tragedy before he hands down his long-awaited findings.

GRIEVING family members of Dreamworld disaster victims will share their heartache before Coroner James McDougall delivers his long-awaited inquest findings on Monday.

Mr McDougall has invited family members affected by the tragedy to address the court in what shapes as a gut-wrenching final chapter to the sad saga before he delivers his findings.

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It comes almost three-and-a-half years after Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett, Roozi Araghi and Cindy Low died on the Thunder River Rapids ride and almost 14 months since the harrowing inquest wrapped up.

Roozi Araghi.

Kate Goodchild.

The October 2016 tragedy left mothers and fathers without sons and daughters and left four children to grow up without their mums.

Relatives of some of the victims sat through every single day of the inquest hearings, some were present sporadically and for others it was too painful to watch.

Luke Dorsett.

Cindy Low.

Late yesterday, some family members were still mulling over whether to address the court next week to describe the pain at losing their loved ones in such horrific circumstances.

Lawyers for the families said they had been instructed not to comment ahead of Monday’s hearing.

Sources close to the inquest expect some relatives to speak, while others will decline the opportunity.

The six-week inquest which wrapped up in December 2018 heard testimony from dozens of witnesses ranging from emergency services personnel to Dreamworld staff, but no family members took the witness stand.

Hearing from family members at the inquest would be similar to victim impact statements being tendered ahead of sentencing hearings in criminal cases, though in this case they would have no bearing on the findings which Mr McDougall has carefully prepared over many months.

Coroner James McDougall will deliver findings of the Dreamworld inquest on Monday. Picture: Jason O'Brien

Compensation payouts totalling millions of dollars have already been paid to several families affected by the disaster, along with former Dreamworld staff and park guests who witnessed the tragedy.

Legal experts believe the compensation figure could climb past $20 million if the findings are as scathing as predicted. The inquest was told of a litany of failures at Dreamworld ranging from safety standards to ride shutdown procedures that shocked even the theme park’s owners.

The Queensland Government introduced tough new workplace laws after the tragedy, including provisions for company bosses to be charged with industrial manslaughter, but the laws are not retrospective and will not be applied to any recommendations in the Dreamworld case.

Since laws changed in the early 2000s, Queensland coroners do not have power to recommend charges in inquests and instead can ‘refer’ cases back to investigators.

NEW HITS TO BOTTOM LINE AHEAD OF INQUEST

DREAMWORLD’s owners concede the theme park is in for more pain as a coroner prepares to deliver the findings of an inquest into the Thunder River Rapids tragedy.

In a half-yearly report to shareholders yesterday, Ardent announced a net loss of $22.5 million for the first six months of the 2019-20 financial year.

The theme parks arm of the business, including Dreamworld and WhiteWater World, recorded a loss of $1.7 million with a statement to shareholders warning that it was “unlikely” to break even in the second half of the financial year amid a number of significant challenges.

While Christmas holidays attendances were “the strongest they had been for many years”, other obstacles could further hurt recovery efforts.

Flowers at a memorial outside the Dreamworld entrance in 2016. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty

The wettest February on record, the threat of the coronavirus and “the potential impact” of inquest findings to be delivered by Coroner James McDougall on Monday “means it is unlikely Dreamworld will break even in 2020”.

However, Ardent management remains optimistic about the park’s future, pointing to planned investment on new attractions and an increase in revenue and attendance in the past few months as positive signs.

“Management believes these challenges are temporary and remain focused on successfully executing planned investments and initiatives,” the company said in a statement.

Revenue from the theme parks increased by $4.3 million from July to December last year, in a sign crowds are starting to return to Dreamworld. Also, encouragingly for Ardent, overall revenue increased by $36.6 million.

Originally published as Dreamworld disaster victims’ families invited to share heartache before inquest findings