Overview

• Counsel assisting Paul Morgan told the Alice Springs hearing that expert evidence indicates the Larapinta blaze likely began in electrical wiring in the ceiling space, with the precise cause still contested.
• A post-incident electrical audit of roughly 600 similarly aged government properties found 58% needed immediate remediation, including 21% with expired smoke detectors and high rates of earthing, insulation, and residual current device faults.
• The inquest will examine whether government repair regimes and inspection practices met legal obligations to provide safe and habitable dwellings in social housing.
• Morgan said a database recommended by a 2007 coroner to log public housing incidents was not maintained, and he noted incomplete records for the Larapinta home despite a 2021 finding warning about lax inspections.
• Testimony in coming days is expected from experts and first responders; an autopsy found Mitchell Thomas, 3, died from smoke inhalation with thermal inhalation injury and carbon monoxide poisoning.