We went to see the European Masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York at the Brisbane GOMA the other weekend.

Despite waiting almost an hour at the entrance it was an extremely enjoyable way to spend a Sunday.

I mistakenly believed the queue was people wanting to receive a free trial pack of oxycontin but the curator reassured me it was to reinforce compliance with Covid-1984 protocols.

Over five decades ago on 21 October 1966, the Aberfan disaster claimed the lives of 116 children and 28 adults when a thixotropic avalanche of coal mine tailings slid down a hillside and engulfed the Pantglas junior school.

It wiped out a generation and was pronounced as a mistake that cost a village its children. In the subsequent Tribunal of Inquiry it was described as a terrifying tale of bungling ineptitude although no criminal charges ensued and not a single National Coal Board executive was demoted or lost their job.

On 6 July 1988 the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster in the North Sea claimed the lives of 167 men. Following a public inquiry the rig operator, Occidental Petroleum was found guilty of having inadequate safety and maintenance procedures although no criminal charges were ever brought against the company.

On 15 April 1989 the Hillsborough stadium disaster resulted in the deaths of 96 soccer fans. The original coronial inquests returned controversial findings of accidental deaths, which were eventually quashed. Almost three decades later an independent panel of inquiry found the victims were unlawfully killed in a tragedy caused by police blunders.

During the immediate aftermath the bereaved families established a support group and received invoices from Liverpool Football Club plc covering the cost of hiring meeting rooms at the Anfield Road stadium.

Subsequent prosecutions against the match commander and former police chief were unsuccessful. More recently two former police officers and a solicitor for the police force were cleared of perverting the course of justice.

A legal technicality ensured the accused had no case to answer because police statements were altered for an informal public inquiry rather than a criminal proceeding.
 
The cost of the criminal trials amounted to almost £70 million and there has been one successful prosecution involving a minor misdemeanour pertaining to an obsolete ground safety certificate and the Sheffield Wednesday club secretary received a £6,500 fine.

On 2 February 2012 the MV Rabaul Queen passenger ferry capsized and sank in treacherous waters off the northern coast of Papua New Guinea with the loss of at least 200 passengers.

The owner and the captain of the doomed and overcrowded rust bucket were eventually acquitted of manslaughter chargers in the PNG National Court.

In the United States a recent review of its opioid scandal and federal authority approval of hillbilly heroin confirms the Sackler family netted almost US$13 billion from its empire of pain.

Less than a year later, an official involved in the approval process eventually jumped ship and received an annual salary amounting to almost US$ 400,000 from the organisation.

The family still denies any responsibility and has paid out ashtray money in damages following a deal with the Trump administration last year. Meanwhile Purdue Pharma has declared itself bankrupt.

Following disasters with the deaths of loved ones, the only parole for many of the bereaved dependents and survivors is death or dementia. They inevitably encounter traditional delay, deny and die tactics although endure the profound pain and persistent distress with absolute dignity despite the torment of burning injustice.

Indeed, in an adversarial system that sacrifices rather than realises the principles of natural justice, it is quite evident the theatre of law has very little to do with the discovery of truth and as Bob Dylan once proclaimed………"You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" and "Money doesn't talk it swears".