Dreamworld’s abject safety failures endangered lives

Queensland Coroner James McDougall’s probe into the deaths of four people on the most popular ride at Australia’s most popular theme park, Dreamworld, north of the Gold Coast, will send shudders through families who have braved the attraction. The report into the deaths of Cindy Low, Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi on the Thunder River Rapids ride on October 25, 2016, exposed unconscionable disregard for safety by Dreamworld’s parent company, Ardent Leisure. It detailed shoddy record keeping that was “a significant contributing factor” and uncovered a negligent, greedy corporate culture that put profits before safety. “It is surprising, given the state of the safety management systems in place at Dreamworld, that a tragedy of this nature had not occurred before now,” Mr McDougall wrote. “It was simply a matter of time.” He was unambiguous in sheeting home the blame to the Ardent Leisure board at the time of the tragedy. Such a culpable culture, he said, “can only exist when leadership from the board down are careless in respect of safety”.

State regulators also fell far short of ensuring safety standards the public is entitled to expect. They placed “unjustified trust” in Dreamworld’s willingness to observe proper safety and maintenance systems. The Office of Industrial Relations insisted that its officers did on-site auditing of theme park rides and that they were proactive with the industry about safety. Yet none picked up the “dangerous state” of the Thunder River Rapids ride as described by independent engineers and inspectors after the tragedy. Mr McDougall also noted the “unjustified trust” of government regulators as to the effectiveness of the safety and maintenance systems: “Clearly, given the nature of this tragedy, and the surrounding circumstances, including the lack of record management, the ­absence of any meaningful hazard assessments or effective engineering oversight of these devices, this was simply not the case.” The systems, he said, were “rudimentary” at best.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who prefers a low profile when bad news breaks, has been quiet since the report’s release on Monday. Her Industrial Relations Minister, Grace Grace, said the government accepted the findings. As recommended, the matter has been referred to the independent Work Health and Safety Prosecutor to decide what action, if any, will be taken against Ardent Leisure, under the Work Health and Safety Act. Mr McDougall said it was “reasonably suspected that Ardent Leisure may have committed an offence under workplace law”. With the exception of the company’s former chief executive Deborah Thomas, who threw little light on the salient issues, the coroner’s report was met initially by a wall of silence from the company’s former directors, who included executives with extensive business experience. Late on Tuesday, public relations spinner Tim L’Estrange issued a statement on behalf of the former board, saying the report was a “milestone”. The statement did not address the findings but expressed the hope they would “prevent such a tragedy” occurring again.

Queensland passed industrial manslaughter legislation in the wake of the accident, but it does not apply retrospectively. Given Queensland’s range of theme parks — the Gold Coast has four, with others dotted throughout the state — it is reasonable to expect world’s best practice safety standards. Even before the release of the report, Labor had implemented most of the safety recommendations, modernising a facet of the leisure sector where slackness was rife for too long. Major inspections of all amusement rides by qualified engineers will be held every 10 years, in addition to existing yearly inspections. Theme parks face a more rigorous licensing regime, including full safety assessments of all rides. More stringent record keeping for all amusement rides as regards inspections, maintenance and operator competency is required. An additional 33 inspectors and three engineers have been employed. Major theme parks also will face annual audits. Ms Grace, sensibly, has looked to Florida in a push to ensure safety meets world standards. Theme park goers deserve nothing less.