By James Vassilopoulos
CANBERRA — Coroner Shayne Madden's report, released on November 4, into the July 1997 hospital demolition which killed schoolgirl Katie Bender found that the project "failed systemically".
The report damns the ACT Liberal government of Kate Carnell, which was admonished for turning the implosion into a public event. The report said that the government's encouragement of people to watch the demolition was "a total abrogation of responsibility to the safety and well-being of the general Canberra community".
However, the Carnell government was not found to have broken the law.
The coroner's report found many failings. The implosion was contracted and subcontracted to private companies which were not skilled enough to carry out the project. The representative of the project manager, Project Coordination Australia, was inadequately skilled for the task. Government regulatory bodies failed to carry out their job.
Officials of the Chief Minister's Department played a "prominent intrusive role that was wholly unwarranted in what was a commercial industrial project", according to Madden.
Shot-firer Rod McCracken has been charged with manslaughter. Demolition contractor Tony Fenwick has been charged with being knowingly concerned with manslaughter. The on-site representative of Project Coordination Australia, Cameron Dwyer, may be prosecuted for breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Surprisingly, Madden did not find any grounds for charging the project director, Totalcare Industries Limited, a government corporation, or any of the contractors. He stated: "It seems to me that neither company had any substantive knowledge as to the activities of Mr Fenwick or Mr McCracken ... the evidence is insufficient nor does it warrant on the public interest any further consideration of whether the companies should be prosecuted."
The counsel assisting the coroner believed there might have been grounds to prosecute a number of companies for breaches of the OH&S Act.
ALP opposition leader Jon Stanhope called for Carnell to resign. She may soon face a no-confidence motion in the ACT Legislative Assembly.
Sue Bull, a Canberra spokesperson for the Democratic Socialist Party, agrees that Carnell must go, but said that much more must be done to address the root causes of the tragedy. "Corporatisation, contracting out and privatisation are the key reasons to explain Auckland's electricity blackouts, the contamination of Sydney's water supply and the implosion tragedy in Canberra.
"In this case, Katie Bender's death was caused by continuing cuts to the ACT public service, the corporatisation of Totalcare and the use of contractors and subcontractors, who could offer their services cheaper than the public service because they undermined quality.
"Money must be injected into the public service. There should also be an immediate ban on, and then a reversal of, all contracting-out and privatisation."