Just 18 months ago, my four-year-old twin daughters, Ophelia and Tarrow, lost their lives in a house fire on a rural property near Byron Bay. They died while in the care of their father who had taken the girls to a party at his new girlfriend's home.

Tarrow and Ophelia, were left fast asleep by themselves in a house with a tall, tapered candle burning just metres away. At some time during the night/early hours of the morning, a fire took hold. They were engulfed in toxic smoke which ended their young lives while adults gathered around a bonfire about 50m away who had no warning of the unfolding nightmare. A disabled smoke alarm was found with no battery.

Earlier this year coroner, the Honourable Magistrate Karen Stafford, quietly declared my children’s death an ‘accident’ and declined to make any recommendations or to hold an inquest.

I have stayed silent for exactly 18 months out of respect for the police investigation, but now I am calling on the NSW Attorney General to intervene so that there is a thorough and transparent inquest into the fire.

More can be done to prevent future tragedies, in the hills around Byron Bay there is an entrenched culture of people burning candles and incense, disabling or neglecting to install smoke detectors.

Almost a year and a half after my children died, I feel like the system would prefer to act as if my children did not exist. An inquest is the absolute minimum, my two beautiful little girls deserve.