Firstly, I want to say thank you to everybody who signed and commented on my petition to find resolution for the deaths of my twins.
As we reached the 2 year anniversary on the 7th November, I was hit by the unforgiving waves or emotion of the reality of their passing and also that we had been informed by the Attorney General our petition had not been successful in creating an inquest.
Today, a week after this heartbreaking 2 year anniversary, it is with my utter dismay and disappointment that I will be switching this campaign to ‘unsuccessful’.
It leaves me without words as to how and why the NSW government can so easily surpass Ophelia and Tarrow’s deaths as simply accidental when there are so many unanswered factors that caused the result of their deaths.
My twins died because they were left alone long enough to perish in a fire that was caused by a candle lit by my children’s fathers girlfriend. The fire alarm that could have saved them was dismantled. The adult that was meant to be caring for them was far away enough to have no notice of the house my children were in was being consumed by deadly smoke. A DJ played till 4am for partygoers whilst my daughters fought to stay alive but could not as no-one was aware of what was happening.
Why this has not been questioned further, or brought some responsibility in for my daughters passing defies belief and that a system created to keep children safe has left mine to pass to death under a full moon party burning brightly over the Byron Bay hinterland.
My children’s lives deserve to be recognised for what they were and what they could have been.
My children deserve the right to know what happened to them that caused their passing and know the circumstances around their deaths.
Although this campaign was unsuccessful in its plight for an inquest into their deaths, it will not be the last push from our team to bring to light what happened to my daughters on that tragic night.
This is justice for my children. This is justice for all children, as all children’s lives matter and they deserve a voice and so much more.
“It’s what we would call a baby case. You don’t quit. Children, infants, anything involving a child needing care and control.
They are at the mercy at whoever has their care and control.”
— the boy in the water podcast.
I will quote my father who has written the following statement;
So what of the smoke detector? A smoke alarm had been installed and connected to mains electricity. However, it was found dismantled, the battery removed and the cover left open. NSW has strict laws that set out the use and maintenance of smoke alarms. The legislation specifically states2:
Under Division 7A of Part 9 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000, smoke alarms must be installed in all buildings in NSW where people sleep.
On 23 March 2020 new laws came into affect with amendments made to the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (the Act) and the new Residential Tenancies Regulation 2019 (the new Regulation) with penalties applied for compliance failures3. This includes:
To ensure smoke alarms installed in the rented property are in working order, a landlord must:
• carry out annual checks to ensure all smoke alarms installed at the property are in working order.
• replace a removable battery in all smoke alarms in the period specified by the smoke alarm manufacturer, or otherwise annually.
• repair or replace a smoke alarm that is not working within 2 days of becoming aware that it is not working.
2 Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 (NSW)
3 Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW)
The legislation clearly states that a “person who does not comply with the legislation is guilty of an offence carrying a maximum penalty of a $550 fine.”
Legislation clearly states the wrongs that occurred on November 7th are not tolerable under NSW law, so why are we left without this being brought to further investigation and charges laid?
Thank you again to everyone who has supported us in this time,
Kindest,
Akira and family