Mother’s Day tough says ride victim’s husband

THE husband of one of the Dreamworld victims says he and his family were “unlucky” and he doesn’t blame ride attendants for the tragedy.

Matthew Low, whose wife Cindy was one of four tourists killed when the Thunder River Rapids ride malfunctioned on October 25, 2016, has revealed he feels sorry for the staff.

His comments, on the ABC’s 7.30 last night, come despite damning evidence at an inquest into the tragedy about training and safety procedures at the theme park.

Mrs Low, Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi were killed when a pump failed and water levels fell, causing rafts to bank up and flip.

The Lows’ 10-year-old son Kieran was also on the ride, but survived. Mr Low said he felt for the ride attendants.

“They were just doing their jobs as they’d been trained and thinking that they were doing the right thing through this process,” he said. “They were put in an awful situation and they’d never been trained on how to deal with that situation.”

Mr Low said the family was still struggling to come to terms with his wife’s death.

“It’s really challenging,” he said. “You don’t realise how often there are lots of things that bring back memories of people when they’re gone that hit really hard. Mother’s Day is a big challenge for the children.” The inquest will resume in early October.

In a statement, Dreamworld said it was delivering on a commitment “to implement global best practice”. THE desalination plant built as a back-up for a droughtstricken Gold Coast is yet to deliver for residents as water gets supplied north to Brisbane and Ipswich.

The State Opposition has accused the government of hiding the real cost, with water from the $1.2 billion Tugun plant at least seven times more expensive than that from water treatment plants.

Currumbin MP Jann Stuckey has sought costings as the Tugun facility was ramped up for three months during an upgrade to the Mount Crosby water treatment plant.

Natural Resources minister Anthony Lynham said Tugun would produce between 4400 to 5700 megalitres of drinking water, which was equivalent to 25 per cent of Brisbane and Ipswich’s daily supply.

“We are now using the Tugun desalination plant more and more, and not just for flood resilience, but routinely to deliver water during peak periods or when other parts of the grid are undergoing maintenance,” he said.

“In fact, probably a third to a half of the glass of water that you have now is from the Tugun desalination plant as Mount Crosby undergoes remedial work.”

Ms Stuckey was told the cost for Tugun was $800 per megalitre of water during continuous production, including chemicals, energy and waste disposal. That compares to $123 per megalitre at conventional treatment plants drawing water from rivers and dams.

Five years ago at Estimates, the LNP, while in government, warned of a cost blowout and

PROBABLY A THIRD TO A HALF OF THE GLASS OF WATER THAT YOU HAVE NOW IS FROM THE TUGUN DESALINATION PLANT ANTHONY LYNHAM

The minister’s office rejected Ms Stuckey’s criticisms, saying the Coast had benefited from Tugun water.

“In the past two years the Gold Coast desalination plant has increased production seven times, four times to supplement Gold Coast water supply when either the Molendinar or Mudgeeraba water treatment plants were shut down for maintenance, or due to Cyclone Debbie,” the spokesperson said.

“The plant has been treating water for Brisbane and Ipswich since May while Mount Crosby treatment plant is shut down.

“This is an example of the importance of the SEQ water grid in maintaining supply for all of SEQ.”