The parent company of Gold Coast theme park Dreamworld has plead guilty to three charges, in relation to the tragic deaths of four people on the Thunder River Rapids ride in October 2016.
Cindy Low, Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi were killed almost four years ago when a water pump on the ride malfunctioned, causing them to be tipped into the conveyor belt mechanism. Two children, aged 10 and 12, were also seated in the same raft, however they were able to escape.
Ardent Leisure entered a guilty plea to all three charges in the Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday, according to the ABC. A hearing has been scheduled for September 28.
It comes one week after Ardent Leisure confirmed the charges – which carry a maximum fine of $1.5 million each – in a statement issued to the ASX on July 21. Following an inquest into the tragic deaths, an independent assessment was launched by Queensland Work Health and Safety Prosecutor and as a result three Category 2 charges were filed against the park’s operator in Brisbane Magistrates Court, pursuant to the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.
“First and foremost, we again express our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of Roozbeh Araghi, Luke Dorsett, Kate Goodchild and Cindy Low for their loss and ongoing suffering and say sorry to all of the people impacted by this tragedy,” Ardent Leisure said in its statement.
“There has been considerable change at Dreamworld over the last few years as was acknowledged by the Coroner in his Report. Dreamworld has taken substantive and proactive steps to improve safety across the entire park and continues to enhance existing systems and practices, as well as adopt new ones, as we develop and implement our safety case in accordance with the Queensland Government’s new major amusement park safety regulations.”
In February, Queensland southeastern Coroner James McDougall referred Ardent Leisure for possible prosecution following a six-week inquest into the tragic deaths. McDougall delivered a scathing assessment of the ride, before revealing he would be referring the Australian-based leisure company, who also own White WaterWorld, to the Office of Industrial Relations (OIR). Delivering his recommendations, McDougall criticised the park’s “frighteningly unsophisticated systems”, and called out Dreamworld for its “systemic failure in relation to all aspects of safety”.