Devastated father must get answers he deserves

IT’S impossible to even begin to understand the pain a father must feel when his child drowns in a septic tank. But that became the excruciating reality for Glenn Taiapa on January 2, 2022 when his son, Tiwanaku Pineamine Taiapa, fell into the tank on a rented rural property while in the care of his mother.

His former partner jumped into the tank to rescue her son and needed help to get out but nothing could be done to save the boy.

Mr Taiapa said it was still not known what had caused the lid to collapse but alleged property owners had failed to make repairs.

Now, a year on, and Mr Taiapa is no closer to getting the answers he is desperate for.

He said staff at the coroner’s office had promised the report before Christmas but documentation is yet to be released.

“I want to move on and get justice, no one deserves to drown in someone else’s s--t,” he said.

“I’m just so upset. No child deserves to die that way.”

The Coroners Court of Queensland says an investigation is awaiting documentation before it can proceed.

While we trust these investigations do take time, in Mr Taiapa’s own words he needs some sort of explanation of what happened that day to have any chance of moving on.

No parent should have to bury their child – but the circumstances in which Tiwanaku’s had to are gut-wrenching.

It’s only hoped that this report gives Mr Taiapa some sense of closure.

The sooner it is released the sooner that can happen.

“I’m just so upset. No child deserves to die that way. I just got to get justice for my son and someone is to blame,” Mr Taiapa said.