In 2016 four people were killed on a ride at Dreamworld on the Australian Gold Coast including Cindy Low, originally from Kawerau. Now an inquest is investigating just why it happened.
The 9-year-old daughter of a Kiwi who was one of people four killed in the 2016 Dreamworld tragedy in Australia has shared a heartfelt tribute at her mother's inquest.
Coroner James McDougall today handed down his long-awaited findings from the inquest, totalling 300 pages, into the deaths of four people on a ride at Dreamworld more than three years ago.
He said there was a "systematic failure" by Dreamworld in relation to "all aspects of safety".
Cindy Low, originally from Kawerau, along with Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi died in October 2016 when a water pump on the Thunder River Rapids malfunctioned at the theme park.
Isla Low was just six when her mother was killed while on the ride with her brother, Kieran, on a family day out at the theme park.
"Mum was a wonderful person with a very big heart," the now 9-year-old said in a statement read out by her father, Mathew Low, in the Brisbane Magistrates Court today.
"I know my daughter wouldn't want her to carry the burden," she said.
Earlier, the inquest heard from Low's brother, who told the court he was working in New Zealand and heard the news on the radio, and was glad to think it wouldn't be someone he knew, the Brisbane Times reported.
The next day his mother called, telling him his sister had died.
"She just made our lives better," he told the court.
Police recommended no criminal charges against Dreamworld staff over the fatal incident.
Coroner James McDougall today referred Ardent Leisure, the owner and operator of the Gold Coast theme park, to the Office of Industrial Relations to consider whether there is sufficient evidence to show it committed breaches under workplace laws.
He said there was a "systematic failure" by Dreamworld in relation to "all aspects of safety".
Three of the four victims were flung instantly into a mechanised conveyor when their raft collided with another and partially flipped on October 25. A crucial delay in manually stopping the ride caused the jammed raft to shake, plunging a fourth person into the machinery.
The inquest heard the malfunction was the third that day and the fifth in a week.
Inexperienced staff panicked, sending out a radio call stating there was a "raft in the conveyor" - the first indication something disastrous had happened, the inquest heard last year.
Despite the efforts of paramedics, the four had no chance of survival. Goodchild's 12-year-old daughter and Low's 10-year-old son survived the incident.
The wide-ranging inquest, which opened in June 2019, revealed a "litany of problems" with some experts declaring the tragedy was an "accident waiting to happen".
Australia and New Zealand await the coroner's Dreamworld decision. Photo / Supplied
Dreamworld's training systems were heavily criticised, with revelations staff operating the ride on the day of the disaster were given just 90 minutes of training.
A memo sent to staff days before the tragedy warned the emergency stop button should not be pushed.
To cut costs, Dreamworld also stopped spending money on repairs and maintenance in the months before the fatal accident.
Staff admitted there had been a "total failure" to identify risks with the ride and a series of equipment failures before the accident should have been investigated.
The ride was also heavily criticised as "unsafe" with no proper maintenance schedules, extensive cracking and corrosion, with parts of the structure "propped up with timber".
Theme park staff removed slats from the conveyor belt and made unapproved structural alterations to the attraction that had been installed more than 30 years previously.
The Queensland government pre-empted the inquest findings, introducing new safety regulations for amusement rides, including mandatory major inspections of rides by qualified engineers every 10 years and improved training for ride operators.
The state also tightened workplace health and safety prosecution laws.
THE VICTIMS
• Cindy Low, Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi were killed when Dreamworld's Thunder River Rapids ride malfunctioned on October 25, 2016.
WHAT HAPPENED
• Two rafts collided on a conveyor when a water pump failed and caused water levels to drop dramatically.
• Dreamworld electricians described the control panel wiring as a "rat's nest".
• Staff insisted the ride was one of the most complex to operate.
• The operator in charge on the day was given only 90 minutes of training.
• A supervisor said pump failures were frequent in the week preceding the tragedy.
• Staff were unaware of the theme park's policy to shut down an attraction after two failures in 24 hours, believing a third was needed for a supervisor to be notified.
• Engineering general manager admitted the ride "should never have opened" after the malfunctions.
• Government registration of Thunder River Rapids and other rides at the park were more than nine months overdue.
• Dreamworld executives announced cutbacks to maintenance and repair spending in 2016 due to falling profits.
•Workplace Health and Safety inspectors identified a "litany of concerns' on the ride's maintenance, including missing slats on the conveyor belt, excessive corrosion, crumbling concrete and unidentified controls.
• Modifications made to the attraction had never been approved by WPHS.
