Dreamworld to pay $2.1m over woman's death

Gold Coast theme park Dreamworld has to pay $2.15 million to the husband and two children of a woman who died when a ride malfunctioned in 2016.

Sydney woman Cindy Low, 42, died on the Thunder River Rapids ride along with Kate Goodchild, Luke Dorsett and Roozi Araghi when a water pump failed and caused the raft they were in to overturn.

Brisbane Supreme Court Justice Susan Brown last week approved a settlement agreement between Dreamworld parent company Ardent Leisure Limited and Cindy's husband, Matthew Low.

Mr Low sued Ardent and filed a claim for dependency costs and economic loss in June 2019 on behalf of the couple's two children Kieran and Isla, aged 10 and six respectively at the time of Cindy's death.

Kieran was on the ride when his mother was killed but suffered only minor injuries.

The terms of the settlement were not revealed in court but public documents now show that Ardent Leisure agreed in September to pay $2.15 million plus $280,000 in costs and outlays to the Low family.

The two children's share of the settlement will be managed by a discretionary trust until they turn 18.

Mr Low's legal representatives, the Clayton Utz firm, had originally filed a claim for more than $2.46 million.

Some of the settlement costs were based on Mrs Low's plan to start a full-time role in administration at a large commercial and real estate firm with an above-average salary plus bonuses.

Mr Low, 47, stated in an affidavit for the lawsuit that his wife was the primary carer of children and they both planned to keep working until at least age 67.

He said he and Cindy, whom he met in New Zealand in 1997 and married in Fiji in 2004, enjoyed experiencing life in other countries and expected to travel more once their children became older and more independent.

The Low family decided to split up during their visit to Dreamworld on October 25, 2016 because Kieran wanted to ride the Thunder River Rapids for a second time.

After waiting at a coffee shop, Mr Low and Isla were tracked down by a Dreamworld staff member.

"I saw Kieran sitting outside the Ride's entrance with staff looking very distressed. I was told 'the paramedics are with Cindy'," Mr Low said in his affidavit.

"Kieran said to me words to the effect that another empty boat on the ride hit them a few times and the boat that he and Cindy were on flipped over. He was very sure Cindy was badly hurt and he was upset he could not save her."

Mr Low had to rush to tell their families about his wife's death due to the national publicity around the tragedy.

"It was one of the most difficult tasks I have ever had to do, and I lost count of the calls I made,"  he said.

Mr Low, his family members and representatives have been banned from making comments on the settlement under the agreement with Ardent Leisure.

Ardent Leisure was fined $3.6 million in 2020 after pleading guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court to breaching the Work Health and Safety Act.

The company has reportedly paid a total of more than $5 million in compensation claims as of 2020 to other family members of the victims as well as emergency responders and witnesses.