ACT Coroner's Court 2003 Bushfire Inquiry
Under the provisions of the Coroners Act 1997 the ACT Coroner conducted an inquiry into the origin, cause and circumstances of the fires which destroyed and damaged property in the ACT in January 2003 and inquests into the deaths of four people who died in the fires.
Coroner Maria Doogan presided over the inquiry and handed down her findings and report on 19 December 2006.
This webpage provides access to Coroner Maria Doogan's report (volume I and volume II), inquiry transcripts, witness list as well as submissions and media releases. Also available is a link to the Inquiry into the Operational Response to the January 2003 Bushfires by Ron McLeod.
Also included is the ACT Supreme Court judgment, R v Coroner Maria Doogan; ex parte Peter Lucas-Smith and Ors [2005] ACTSC 74, which dealt, in part, with the question of apprehended bias.
Submissions
Submissions of Counsel Assisting
- ACT Fires January 2003: Submissions of Counsel Assisting / Lex Lasry QC and Ted Woodward, 2 April 2006 (PDF 2.01MB)
- ACT Fires January 2003: Submissions of Counsel Assisting / Lex Lasry QC and Ted Woodward, 2 April 2006 (RTF 15,322KB)
- ACT Fires January 2003: Submissions of Counsel Assisting on Recommendations / Lex Lasry QC and Ted Woodward, 4 May 2006 (PDF 182KB)
- ACT Fires January 2003: Submissions of Counsel Assisting on Recommendations / Lex Lasry QC and Ted Woodward, 4 May 2006 (RTF 648KB)
- Submissions of Counsel Assisting: Supplementary Submission / Lex Lasry QC and Ted Woodward (PDF 21KB)
- Submissions of Counsel Assisting: Supplementary Submission / Lex Lasry QC and Ted Woodward (RTF 60KB)
- Submissions of Counsel Assisting: List of Corrections to Document IDs (PDF 55KB)
- Submissions of Counsel Assisting: List of Corrections to Document IDs (RTF 81KB)
- Further Submissions of Counsel Assisting in Reply to the Submissions of the NSW Represented Parties ("e;NSW Submissions") / Lex Lasry QC and Ted Woodward (PDF 46KB)
- Further Submissions of Counsel Assisting in Reply to the Submissions of the NSW Represented Parties ("e;NSW Submissions") / Lex Lasry QC and Ted Woodward (RTF 314KB)
ACTEWAGL
- Submissions of ACTEWAGL (PDF 670KB)
- Submissions of ACTEWAGL (RTF 397KB)
Submissions on behalf of the Australian Capital Territory
- Submissions on behalf of Australian Capital Territory - part 1 (PDF 6.40MB)
- Submissions on behalf of Australian Capital Territory - part 2 (PDF 5.06MB)
- Submissions on behalf of ACT prepared by Brian Parry and Associates dated 16 October 2003 (PDF 74KB)
- Table of Sitting Days (PDF 40KB)
- Table of Sitting Days (RTF 255KB)
- Corrections to References within the ACT Submissions dated 30 June 2006 (PDF 25KB)
Australian Federal Police
ACT Sustainable Rural Lands Group Inc
Submissions on behalf of Mr R. McRae
- Submissions on behalf of Mr R McRae (PDF 240KB)
- Submissions on behalf of Mr R McRae Addendum (PDF 27KB)
- Further Submissions on behalf of Mr McRae (PDF 14KB)
Submissions on behalf of Ms O. Arman
- Submissions on behalf of Ms Odile Arman (PDF 109KB)
- Submissions on behalf of Ms Odile Arman, addendum (PDF 14KB)
Submissions on behalf of Mr P. Lucas-Smith and Mr M. Castle
- Submissions on behalf of Mr Peter Lucas-Smith and Mr Mike Castle (PDF 634KB)
- Submissions on behalf of Mr Peter Lucas-Smith and Mr Mike Castle Attachment 1 (PDF 1.74MB)
- Submissions on behalf of Mr Peter Lucas-Smith and Mr Mike Castle Attachment 2 (PDF 145KB)
- Submissions on behalf of Mr Peter Lucas-Smith and Mr Mike Castle Attachment 3 (PDF 486KB)
- Submissions on behalf of Mr Peter Lucas-Smith and Mr Mike Castle Attachment 4 (PDF 1.76MB)
- Reply on behalf of Peter Lucas-Smith and Mike Castle to the Submissions of Counsel Assisting made orally on 18 July 2006
(PDF 16KB)
Other Submissions
- Submissions on behalf of Superintendent Peter Newham (PDF 30KB)
- Submissions on behalf of Mr Tony Bartlett (PDF 50KB)
- Submissions on behalf of Mrs Vivien Thomson (formerly Raffaele) (PDF 11KB)
- Submissions on behalf of NSW Represented Parties (PDF 440KB)
- Submissions on behalf of Mr Tony Graham (PDF 45KB)
- Submissions of Mr Peter A. Smith (PDF 8KB)
Transcripts
Directions Hearings
- 16 June 2003 (PDF 180KB)
- 1 September 2003 (PDF 123KB)
- 17 August 2004 (PDF 47KB)
- 13 October 2005 (PDF 40KB)
- 7 April 2006 (PDF 158KB)
- 19 May 2006 (PDF 185KB)
- 16 June 2006 (PDF 34KB)
Daily Transcripts
Days 1 to 5 7 October 2003 - (PDF 869KB) |
Day 6 14 October 2003 (PDF 54KB) |
Day 7 15 October 2003 (PDF 201KB) |
Days 8 to 9 16 October 2003 (PDF 226KB) |
Days 10 to 19 16 February 2004 - (PDF 2.25MB) | ||||
Days 20 to 29 3 March 2004 - (PDF 1.76MB) |
Days 30 to 39 5 April 2004 - (PDF 2.35MB) |
Days 40 to 49 23 April 2004 - (PDF 1.91MB) |
Days 50 to 59 10 May 2004 - (PDF 1.75MB) |
Days 60 to 69 24 May 2004 - (PDF 1.98MB) | ||||
Days 70 to 79 9 August 2004 - (PDF 1.36MB) |
Days 80 to 89 5 October 2004 - (PDF 1.29MB) |
Days 90 to 92 18 October 2005 - (PDF 729KB) |
Oral Submissions
- 10 July to 28 July 2006 (PDF 876KB)
Media releases
- Leading QC appointed as Counsel Assisting the Coroner's Bushfire Inquiry
(21 February 2003) - Coronial Bushfire Inquiry seeks early public information
(21 February 2003) - Coronial investigation into bushfires progressing well
(19 February 2003) - Coronial investigation into bushfires underway
(24 January [2003])