Night etched in agony
15 backpackers killed in hostel tragedy 20 years ago
YESTERDAY was 20 years to the day since Geoff Fay stood in the main street of Childers, compiling a list of names that would send jolts of agony around the world.
The Palace Backpackers Hostel in the Queensland town was still burning when the police officer moved from one shell-shocked group of travellers to the next.
They were huddled like ghosts, white blankets draped around their shoulders, as Sergeant Fay scrawled down their names, asking who they were travelling with and if their companions escaped.
Some stood in silence, tears coursing down their cheeks as they watched the hostel burn.
Others could not bear to look at what they had escaped and turned their backs on the chaos.
The sights and sounds of that terrible night — when itinerant fruit picker Robert Paul Long torched the Palace hostel — are as fresh as ever for Sgt Fay. “Time doesn’t heal a lot of things,” he said.
Fifteen young travellers died in the early hours of June 23, 2000. One on a bed. Others at a window fitted with steel bars. Nine in a single room, the exit blocked by furniture.
Yesterday, there should have been a large memorial service to remember the victims, involving dignitaries from all the countries that lost citizens — Australia, the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Japan, Korea, Morocco. But coronavirus put paid to that.
Instead, a small service was held in the town that still carries the pain of Long’s actions.
Bill Trevor was mayor of Childers when the fruit picker set fire to a bin inside the century-old building, using cushions and paper towels to make sure it spread.
Like Sgt Fay, his memories are still raw. And there is bitterness that the 20th anniversary of the fire has coincided with Long’s bid for freedom, after serving a minimum 20year sentence for murder.
“On a daily basis we bear that burden with us, and share that with the survivors and families that never got the opportunity to say goodbye. And Robert Long is to blame for that,” Mr Trevor told the service.
Long was only prosecuted for the murders of Australian twins Stacey and Kelly Slarke. The families of the other victims are now trying to convince the parole board to keep him locked up, saying he is remorseless and dangerous.
From the earliest phase of the investigation, Long was a suspect. He had been staying at the hostel but left in the days beforehand, owing money and fighting with another traveller.
British survivor Lisa Duffy was among the first to name him, saying Long had asked her to leave a fire escape open.
He wanted to be able to get inside to beat up the backpacker he was warring with.
Long fled after lighting the fire. In his arrest five days later he stabbed an officer in the jaw.
British survivor Richard Tempest is among those who say Long should never be freed. He now lives in Brisbane, with the burden of survivor guilt. His roommate perished.
“Knowing there were four people in a room and only three got out . . . I question, why him?” Mr Tempest told the ABC.
Sgt Fay understands why the prospect of Long’s release is so daunting for so many.
“From my point of view that fire just occurred yesterday. So many lives lost, so many lives destroyed. People are still grieving,” he said.