SA Parliament signals investigation into Stereosonic death

The South Australian Parliament took a step closer to a coronial inquest into the suspected drug overdose death at the Adelaide leg of Stereosonic.

Following the death of 19-year-old Stefan Woodward last December, a motion was passed in State Parliament calling on Attorney-General John Rau to order and fund a coronial inquest.

It was moved by John Darley of the independent Nick Xenophon Team.

“The Attorney-General has declined to intervene thus far,” Darley told Parliament. “However, this is a matter of great public interest and it is imperative that it is investigated properly.

“An inquest is needed to look at the role of the organisers, security, police and to answer the many questions surrounding Mr Woodward’s death.”

The motion has the support of the SA Opposition but the Government is resisting. Labor Minister Gail Gago told Parliament that the motion was “unnecessary at this point of time and inappropriate” because SA Police’s investigation into the teenager’s death was not due until later this year. It is only when the Coroner receives the police report that the State Coroner can “determine whether an inquest is necessary or desirable.”

The Attorney General has previously stated that it is a decision to be made only by the Coroner and has declined to intervene. But Nick Xenophon argues that is not the case, citing Section 21 of the Coroner’s Act, which does give him that power.

Xenophon and his party have been calling for a coronial inquest since Woodward’s death on December 5. A 20-year-old man and 21-year-old woman had also been hospitalised. SA Police were investigating if the same pink pills with a dollar sign imprint were linked.

A week earlier, Sylvia Choi, 25, also died when Stereosonic staged in Sydney. A young man was hospitalised in Melbourne.

“We want to stop it from happening again,” Xenophon said, adding that what was urgently needed was “an educational program which gets the message through to young people, not just what makes middle aged parents feel good.”

Xenophon wants to find out if zero tolerance policies at festivals are working and stopping people from calling for help when they get into trouble. He wants to know what steps the organisers of the festival did to prevent drug taking. He has previously called for the assets of drug dealers to be seized to pay for rehabilitation of users.

Legally, Stereosonic promoters Totem OneLove are not responsible, according to SA Law Society President David Caruso if they have had drug checks and had police on site, and their responsibility does not extend to someone who has purposefully and covertly” brought drugs to the festival.

Stereosonic is taking a break this year, and promoters Totem OneLove could not be immediately contacted for comment.

But after Woodward’s death, they released a statement that they were “devastated”. The statement also warned patrons at the next show after, in Brisbane, “There are various highly dangerous substances on the market and there is no way of knowing what is in them.”