Extra $10 a day for senior staff

IT would have cost Dreamworld about $10 extra a day for two senior operators to man the Thunder River Rapids Ride, the inquest into the October 2016 tragedy heard.

Instead the park chose to employ a junior and senior operator to run the ride where four people were killed.

The difference between a junior and senior operator’s pay rates is about $3650 a year, or $10 a day.

At the time of the tragedy the ride was being manned by Courtney Williams, 21, who had been trained that morning to operate the ride.

Ms Williams was being supervised by senior operator Peter Nemeth.

Ride trainer Amy Crisp was yesterday asked in the Southport Coroner's Court if having two senior operators working the ride — considered one of the most complex at the Coomera park — would have made the shift easier.

“In an ideal world yes,” she said.

The tragedy occurred after a pump stopped working on the ride on October 25, 2016, causing water levels to drop and a raft to become stuck on the conveyor belt.

That raft was hit by another carrying Luke Dorsett, his sister Kate Goodchild, her daughter Ebony, 12, Roozbeh Araghi, Cindy Low and her son, Kieran, 10. The raft flipped and the four adults were killed.

The inquest heard yesterday Ms Williams earned $19.49 per hour and Ms Crisp $21.61 an hour.

Mr Nemeth is expected to have been at a pay rate in between the pair.

Barrister Steven Whybrow, acting for the father of Mr Dorsett and Ms Goodchild, Shayne Goodchild, and Ms Goodchild’s partner, David Turner, asked: “Do you agree that it would have cost Dreamworld less than $10 a day to have two level-three operators operating this ride at all times?”

“That’s right,” Ms Crisp replied.

Ms Crisp was in the witness box the entire day yesterday and was at times emotional defending her training of Ms Williams on the morning of the incident. “My training was sufficient,” she said.

Ms Crisp never formally tested Ms Williams if she understood how to operate the ride, but said Ms Williams told her she understood. Under questioning from counsel assisting the coroner Ken Fleming, Mr Crisp admitted Ms Williams “simply didn’t do it properly”.

“What do you say Ms Williams did wrong?” Mr Fleming asked.

“If Pete was not responding to her, she should have gone to the main control panel,” Ms Crisp replied.

Ms Crisp later said she did not think Ms Williams had done anything wrong.

“Unless I was there with her at the time of the incident, I can’t understand what happened.”

The inquest will continue this morning.

UNLESS I WAS THERE WITH HER AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT, I CAN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED