A lawsuit alleging Dreamworld’s operator misled investors about safety measures before the 2016 accident that killed four people has been mentioned in court.

July 30, 2020

Dreamworld’s parent company is back in court for the second time in two days following the deaths of four tourists on the infamous Thunder River Rapids Ride four years ago.

A class action launched by shareholders in Ardent Leisure Group Ltd was briefly mentioned on Thursday to establish a hearing timetable in the Brisbane Federal Court.

The case was filed in June to recoup the losses of people who bought shares in the theme park operator in the two years before the tragedy on October 25, 2016.

The lawsuit alleges Ardent misled investors about the safety measures in place before the accident that killed Cindy Low, Kate Goodchild, her brother Luke Dorsett and his partner Roozi Araghi.

The holidaymakers died after they were flung from a Thunder River Rapids Ride raft into a mechanised conveyor that moved the rafts below the water.

Their raft had collided with another and partially flipped after becoming stuck when the ageing ride’s water pump malfunctioned, causing water levels to fall dangerously low.

The pump failure was the third that day and the fifth in a week, and no automated shutdown function was installed despite recommendations.

Ms Goodchild’s 12-year-old daughter and Ms Low’s 10-year-old son survived the incident.

Lawyers for Ardent and its shareholders will return to the Federal Court on August 28 for a half-day hearing over Ardent’s ability to pay compensation if the lawsuit is successful.

The hearing comes a day after the theme park operator pleaded guilty to three counts of breaching the Work Health and Safety Act in the Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

The company allegedly failed to comply with its health and safety duty, and exposed individuals to a risk of serious injury or death.

Queensland’s Workplace Health and Safety prosecutor Aaron Guilfoyle said Ardent Leisure failed to provide and maintain safe plant and structures, and systems of work at the iconic Gold Coast theme park.

The company also allegedly failed to provide information, training, instruction or supervision necessary to protect people from risk.

Each charge carries a maximum penalty of $1.5 million.

The matter has been set down for a lengthy hearing on September 28.

In February, Coroner James McDougall referred Ardent Leisure to the Office of Industrial Relations, saying there was a “systemic failure” at Dreamworld in all aspects of safety.

The inquest also found there had been no thorough engineering risk assessment of the Thunder River Rapids in the 30 years it was open to the public.

Dreamworld presented itself as a modern, world-class theme park, but its “frighteningly unsophisticated” safety procedures were “rudimentary at best”, Mr McDougall said while delivering the inquest findings.