Friday Sep 03

Still no closure from Coroner's findings

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By MARK BOUSEN

Family members have dismissed any concept of closure on the tragedy following the Coroner’s findings into the disappearance of the Malu Sara and the loss of all five people on board, including a five-year-old girl.

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Gina Joe.

"There’ll be no closure until justice is done," Mr Fred Joe said.

Mr Joe, the partner of Flora Enosa and the father of Ethena Enosa, said he was satisfied with the findings, but they needed to be taken a lot further.

"At least we can now pursue legal action as there now some guidelines to work with,"

Ms Beverley Hall, from Queensland Legal Aid, said the families were "fairly satisfied" with the findings, although nothing surprised them with the findings.

"Their real interest is what will happen next, and the recommendations, such as the search and rescue procedures for the Torres Strait.

"I have told the families there will not be a quick fix and things will take time, but they’re concerned some of the recommendations will not be put into place."

Ms Hall said the families were pleased no blame was attributed the two (DIAC) crew aboard the Malu Sara, and the Coroner’s praise for Mr Harry.

"The families found the findings hard to take in and complicated, so I have tried to explain to them in plain English."

Ms Hall said there was no closure for the families and they were "still a lot of things to be completed".

"At least they can now obtain a death certificate."

Ms Gina Joe said: "We’ve waited for this for years, and it’s very upsetting.

"Although we’re pleased there will be inquiries into the actions of Mr Chaston and Mr Flegg, we would like to have seen charges (criminal) recommended against some of those involved."

Ms Abigail Harry says she is "very disappointed" no criminal charges were either laid or recommended.

"It is upsetting that something like this has come into the Torres Strait, with people carrying brief cases and wearing suits."

Ms Harry, who has been one of the strongest critics of the Coroner’s inquiry, continued her condemnation after the findings were handed down.

"The MMO (Movement Monitoring Officers) didn’t have any idea of what was happening in the court or what to say; they didn’t understand what was happening.

"There was no one there to direct the questions; there was no one there to set the protocols in place for the hearing.

"There’s a lot of hurt."

Ms Harry says there should have been an independent inquiry conducted by the people of the Torres Strait.

"That would have made them accountable for their actions; and it would have given a people’s focus on what happened."

She suggested bodies such as the TSRA, Torres Shire and the former ICC (which was operating at the time of the tragedy) should have been involved in an inquiry.

"We have no faith in internal inquiries; they’re wishy washy; afterall we’re talking about justice here."