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Mark McAdie - Assistant Commissioner, Crime and Support Service

(Subject to Delivery)

"Firstly, I would like to clarify, while I can provide some detail at this point with regard to the criminal investigation, I am not in a position to pre-empt the Coronial Inquest.

The NT Police investigation conducted on behalf of the Coroner into the explosion that occurred on board the vessel on 16 April 2009 in which five people lost their lives has been completed but not closed.

All avenues of inquiry with the information made available to date have been exhausted.

There were two parallel aspects to this investigation - an investigation for the Coroner and a criminal investigation to determine whether or not any criminal offences had occurred.

The criminal investigation has revealed information that suggests that a person or persons had intended to set a fire on board the vessel. It is unknown whether the person or persons responsible for the fire intended to cause the explosion that resulted in the loss of five lives.

Although it is our opinion that there is at the present time insufficient evidence to charge any person with criminal offences relating to the explosion, the criminal investigation into the matter will continue.

It is also important to point out that the investigation has proceeded with the complete co-operation of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and all other commonwealth agencies.

ADF personnel in particular have co-operated with the investigators at every turn and, as an agency, the ADF has not only co-operated but offered information to the investigation in order to further our inquiries.

There are no ADF personnel who are persons of interest to this inquiry. It appears on the evidence that is available to us the personnel involved on the ground behaved professionally, most especially when it comes to the evacuation of the injured persons from the scene and their quick action is likely to have ensured that, whilst tragically five lives have been lost, none of the people who were seriously injured lost their lives.


I will also take this opportunity to acknowledge the generous assistance provided by the Australian Federal Police, Western Australian Police and Queensland Police throughout this investigation.

The investigation to date has been exhaustive with over 200 witnesses interviewed and over 20 000 pages of transcripts produced, collated and analysed.

Many of the witnesses were persons who do not speak English at all, and many of those persons had serious injuries as a result of the explosion on the boat. These were complications to the investigation, though ultimately not a hindrance.

This is the third significant Police investigation which is being handed to the Coroner electronically. The first being the investigation into the death of Peter Falconio.

The Coroner has announced this will be subject to a Public Inquest commencing at the end of January 2010 in Darwin.

It is important to highlight that the Coroner will, if possible, ultimately determine the cause of deaths of the five persons, whether he believes any crime may have been committed and any other relevant circumstances which are beyond the scope of a criminal investigation.

It is equally important to highlight that the Coroner through the Coronial Inquest may draw out further information in relation to this incident. That information could result in further investigation that may lead to criminal charges being laid."



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