Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last weekend we mourned, remembered and commemorated the lives of 18 men who lost their lives in the Box Flat coalmining disaster in Ipswich 1972. I want to thank President Hugh Taylor and the Ipswich Historical Society for the great work they did over the weekend, including the unveiling of the mine's rescue display and the memorial service, which was very moving, last Sunday.

After Box Flat and multiple inquiries, including a mining warden's inquiry, changes were made to law, regulation, safety and testing. On 31 July 1972 at 2.47 am—I remember the explosion myself—17 miners were killed in an explosion at the Box Flat coal mine in Swanbank, near Ipswich. Another man lost his life 19 months later. Eight of the men lost that day were members of the Booval Mines Rescue Brigade who had bravely gone back into the mine in an attempt to extinguish and seal off the fire and to save their mates. It remains the worst mining disaster in Ipswich's history and one of the greatest losses of life in Queensland's mining industry. The entrances were sealed and the bodies were never recovered. My heart goes out to those families, who have suffered for generations and endured loss and pain. Thank you to Hugh and the Ipswich Historical Society for what they did over the weekend for those families.