Inquest into how 2-year-old boy drowned in Mt Liebig septic tank underway in Alice Springs
Family members have shared the moment the boy was pulled for the tank – which the inquest has now identified as ‘non-compliant’ and also as needing repairs five years ago.
October 15: An uncle who pulled his brain dead nephew out of a septic tank in a Red Centre remote community says he “vomited up” after he jumped into the tank with no protection equipment on at all.
The inquest into how two-year-old Kumunjayi Fly tragically died in a septic tank in Mt Liebig resumed in the Alice Springs Local Court on Tuesday, with day two thrusting maintenance workers into the spotlight.
The boy fell into the tank on March 29 last year when he was playing in the backyard of his grandmother’s house.
Four days later he died in Adelaide Women’s and Children Hospital.
He was brain dead when he was pulled from the tank, the inquest heard.
Taking to the stand on the second day of the inquest was his uncle Roderick Daniels, who pulled him from the tank.
He softly told the inquest how he jumped in without safety equipment to grab the boy.
“I went in without protection … after I went home, had a shower, vomited up,” he said.
“I tried to save him.”
He said he wanted to see workers who completed work on septic tanks to “double check the bolts” after they were done.
“For our children’s safety; plumbers need to double check the bolts after they’ve finished their job, because sometimes they leave bolts loose,” he said.
Mr Daniels said he was first alerted to something being wrong when he was fixing his car and heard a scream.
He said he ran over straight away, and when he got there the septic tank lid was lying a few metres away.
Earlier in the morning, the toddler’s family slowly trickled into the court to hear building surveyor Paul Hinkly questioned.
Before the toddler’s death, an extension was completed on his grandmother’s house, which Mr Hinkly signed off on as the surveyor.
The first day of the inquest revealed a November 2019 plumbing audit identified the home’s septic systems needed upgrading, which should have been part of the house extension.
At the stand, Mr Hinkly said he was “flabbergasted” the report hadn’t been followed and accused “someone in the government” of choosing to not upgrade it.
“I can’t understand why someone in the government didn’t flag (the septic system upgrade),” he said.
But under questioning from lawyer Tom Grace, representing the Department of Logistics and Infrastructure, Mr Hinkly agreed his concerns came after he’d signed off on the works – without the septic tank upgrade completed – upon hearing evidence at the inquest.
Under examination by Mr Grace, Mr Hinkly admitted he did not undertake an on-site inspection before he signed off on the extension.
Filling most of the seats in the gallery, the boy’s family silently watched on as the two butted heads.
Mr Grace suggested “it was a mistake” the 2019 report was “overlooked” and pressed Mr Hinkly on his “concerns” some government staff may be “unqualified”.
Mr Hinkly did not provide detail on when he raised these concerns or how government staff were “unqualified”.
“There are people in the government, and I deal a lot with them, and I have my doubts on what their qualifications are to a respect,” he said.
He said he took his “concerns” to ministers and relevant government bodies “over the years”.
After Mr Hinkly, author of the 2019 plumbing audit Jordi Chalmers took the stand.
Mr Chalmers told the inquest how the septic tank was “non-compliant”.
“At the time, I wasn’t expecting them to be upgraded … it was safe enough at the time when I left it,” he said.
Under questioning from Coroner Elizabeth Armitage and counsel-assisting Fiona Kepert, he said under the current code a septic tank’s size was determined from soil type and the number of bedrooms in a house.
Plumbers Rowan Clark and Tim Mitchell also spoke.
Mr Mitchell said since the incident he’d come across septic tanks in other communities which had issues.
Mr Mitchell said “we’re just told to go and do what we’re asked to do” in relation to works undertaken in Mt Liebig.
“We’ve always been told we can’t do extra work there,” he said.
The inquest continues on Wednesday.
Toddler’s harrowing death puts ‘troublesome’ septic system under microscope
October 14: Evidence at an inquest could reveal how a government department was aware of a “troublesome septic system” but did not act – a failure which led to a toddler’s horrific death in a remote Northern Territory community.
Extra chairs were brought into the old Alice Springs supreme courtroom for the grieving family of Kumunjayi Fly, searching for answers as to how the two-year-old drowned in a Mt Liebig septic tank last year.
Presiding over the inquest, Coroner Elisabeth Armitage told the court how the boy was playing in his grandparents backyard, unaware of a “troublesome septic system”.
“He should have been safe. The family did not understand that there was, in fact, a danger in that yard,” she said.
Ms Armitage said the boy fell in the tank on March 29, 2023.
He died on April 4 in the Adelaide Women’s and Children hospital.
“Within a couple of days of that tragedy, the (septic tank) lid was made secure,” she said.
“I ask, why did it cost a child’s life to make those repairs happen.”
In her opening statement, counsel-assisting Fiona Kepert revealed how a 2019 plumbing audit identified issues with the specific septic tank the boy drowned in.
The report identified multiple issues of noncompliance, Ms Kepert said, including but not limited to how “access covers were incorrect” across multiple septic tanks in the remote community.
She further detailed how at the boys grandmother house – where he was playing – the report identified the septic was non-compliant “due to the fact that the access covers are incorrect, missing bollards/protection, no distribution pit, joint putty coming adrift from the saddle riser and tank, baffles corroded”.
Ms Kepert said the home where the boy drowned was the responsibility of the Territory Government by the “department responsible for public housing”.
The property was overseen by the Department of Territory Families.
The department has since been split.
Lawyer Michael McCarthy is representing the Department of Housing and the Department of Health at the inquest.
Lawyer Tom Grace is representing the Department of Logistics and Infrastructure, formerly the Department of Infrastructure, Logistics, and Planning.
They are expected to give evidence at a later date, as well as builders who were involved with renovation projects in Mt Liebig.
Ms Kepert said there were 900 septic tanks across public housing properties in the NT, excluding homelands, schools, government buildings, police stations, and clinics.
“The risk of drowning is clearly very real and widespread,” she said.
The inquest continues until Friday, October 18.
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Originally published as Inquest into how 2-year-old boy drowned in Mt Liebig septic tank underway in Alice Springs
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