Whiskey 15 not forgotten
IT’S hoped more will be found out about the deadly bombing of Brisbane’s Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub 44 years ago now that witnesses might be more willing to come forward following the jailing of Vincent O’Dempsey.
There had been calls to reopen the probe following Thursday’s convictions of O’Dempsey and Garry Dubois for the murders of Barbara McCulkin and her two daughters and the Queensland Attorney-General yesterday ordered the coroner to hold an inquest into the bombing.
Fifteen people were killed when two 23-litre drums of diesel fuel were thrown into the foyer of the nightclub in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, setting it ablaze.
O’Dempsey’s recent trial heard he may have been motivated to kill Mrs McCulkin over fears she would try to implicate him in the firebombing.
Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath said the 78-year-old’s jailing may encourage some witnesses to come forward.
“Given recent events, witnesses who have previously not been willing to come forward might now be willing to provide new information that will give us those answers,” she said.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the tragedy was “etched in the memory of many Queenslanders”.
“We should take this opportunity to find any answers we can. I think a lot of people want THESE cute cygnets have avoided their swan song after being rescued from a Gold Coast waterway.
The young swans were attacked by their parents and kicked out of their Burleigh Lake nest before they could fly or fend for themselves.
One of the two cygnets had been hooked in its bill by a fisherman and the line was trailing behind it.
Fortunately, a good Samaritan contacted Rowley Goonan from Wild Bird Rescues’.
Mr Goonan decided Tango and Tempo needed to be taken to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital as they were not likely to survive on their own.
“One of the birds had a hook in the face,” Mr Goonan said.
“The person who hooked the bird didn’t call me ... it was another member of the public.
“Half the fishermen are worried about getting into trouble while the others couldn’t care less about what they hook.”
The plucky “ugly ducklings” are on the mend after their ordeal and being “fattened up” by carers.
The cygnets will be released into the wild when they are fully recovered. closure and this is the right steps that the A-G has made,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
The initial coronial inquest into the blaze lasted just two days. James Finch and John Stuart were convicted over the firebombing, though there has always been speculation others were involved.
Stuart was found dead in his Brisbane jail cell in 1979 while Finch was deported to England in 1988 after 15 years in jail.
O’Dempsey made the unusual step on Thursday of addressing the court directly before his sentencing, claiming a “prejudicial smokescreen” had been put up during the trial linking him to the firebombing, which he strongly denied. Justice Peter Applegarth rejected his protestation and said there “was evidence in that form” that he was involved in the fire.
Survivor Hunter Nicol said the probe would “give a lot of people a lot of peace”.