Ride to redemption after park tragedy
THE Dreamworld tragedy must find a positive. This is the theme park’s ride to redemption. There must be a glint of sunshine. The families of the survivors and the staff, they deserve it. How can this be achieved?
The coronial inquiry is the start of that journey. Gold Coast police investigators have worked thoroughly and tirelessly to pinpoint the causes of this catastrophe.
At the inquest this week, by placing the media and public in a second courtroom, at least it gave family members and relatives some privacy.
The shocking visual evidence about what happened to Canberra tourists Kate Goodchild, 32, her brother Luke Dorsett, 35, his partner Roozbeh Araghi, 38, and Gosford resident Cindy Low, 42, on October 25, 2016, was kept in document cases.
Whatever way you now look back on the Thunder River Rapids Ride, how and what led to the rafts colliding and tipping up, several families have been destroyed. Not just the tourists.
The ride operators are victims as well.
At 1pm each day at the Southport Courthouse, family members and friends get into the lifts. They are dressed casually, blend in with CBD workers. They are stoic as they pass the television news cameras.
They appear to be normal folk. They have empathy for the young ride operators giving evidence. Their journeys have intersected on the same terrible path.
If they don’t blame the operators, where does their focus turn? The exhibits include staff memos about not pushing emergency buttons, internal reviews and email responses after earlier incidents.
Gold Coast lawyer Rob Davis, acting for the families, has focused on a similar incident on January 18, 2001, when a raft flipped on the ride during a dry run before the park opened.
A safety manager later wrote that they “shudder to think” what would happen if someone was on it. But a park report later said “the possibility was nil”.
Mr Davis is an experienced litigant. He represented the family of US dive couple Tom and Eileen Lonergan who in 1998 were left at a reef off Port Douglas after their tourist boat failed to undertake a passenger headcount.
He asked Dreamworld forensic crash investigator Steven Cornish about the 2001 park report.
Mr Davis: “Based on your knowledge of this ride and its operations, was that in your opinion a reasonable assessment of the risk of the same event occurring?’’
Senior Constable Cornish: “All those points are relying on human intervention – it’s relying on the operators to be in control of the ride at the time. There is no automation safety.’’
A reasonable assessment is at Dreamworld and places like it, you cannot rely on ride operators to be across everything.
Your columnist has sat with lifesavers at Surfers Paradise, the older salts, their eyes are on the wary tourist even before they wade out into the rip. They immediately spot another, the drunk Irish teenager with the sunburn, and know he cannot swim.
But a theme park and its rides and thousands of guests? This is a much more complex safety scenario than the surf.
For too long, theme park safety records have been kept secret. The Australian Workers Union in the months before the tragedy, on behalf of workers, launched a Right To Information request on ride incidents. Those reports are now with the Coroner.
The State Government, after submissions on behalf of workers, agreed to introduce tough new health and safety laws. Next year will see mandatory licensing of ride operators.
These workers will be required to complete more training. The inquest hopefully will make recommendations regarding the need for automatic safety mechanisms on rides.
Looking back at the Thunder River Rapids Ride, judgment will be made about management and ignoring warnings of a storm ahead.
Accidents will always happen. Dreamworld can pause here and take the next step, lead the way forward. The Coast theme park can set the standard for safety and win back hearts.