Public hearings for the Inquiry began on 22 April 2020. Notification for the hearings was made on the Inquiry website on 21 April 2020.

The opportunity for the hearings that commenced on 22 April 2020, and that will continue, arose as a result of the unexpected delay in the vessel the Ruby Princess leaving New South Wales. As a result of this, I took urgent steps to summons crew that remained on the ship – a matter in which both they and their employer fully cooperated. The window for holding such hearings was extremely limited, as the ship is due to depart on Thursday 23 April 2020, with many of the crew I summonsed on board.

The unfortunate suggestion has been made that notice of the fact that the Special Commission hearings were to commence was in some way hidden. That was not the case. The reason for the late notice for the commencement of the hearings and the lack of “fanfare” about them is that neither I nor any member of the Special Commission staff knew that the hearings were going to go ahead until late on 21 April 2020. This was because of the obvious difficulties in serving summonses on potential witness in circumstances of urgency when they are on a cruise ship and in effect in lockdown. The service of summonses was not effected until late on 21 April, the day on which those summonses were issued by me.

The decision to seek to serve summonses urgently on members of the crew remaining on the Ruby Princess was mine, and the decision to convene hearings this week was mine, and mine alone. The sole focus for myself and staff of the Special Commission this week to date involved decision making as to what was possible concerning summonsing remaining crew, and arranging and preparing for hearings.

This Special Commission of Inquiry is entirely independent of government. None of the matters I have described above have – including what notice the Special Commission was capable of giving to the public about the urgent hearings this week – have anything to do with any Minister of the NSW Government, much less the Premier.

The hearings that will take place this week, and that took place on 22 April, were public hearings, that were live-streamed, and transcript will be available shortly on the Inquiry website (as will a recording of the hearings).

In future, I expect I will be able to provide earlier notification of hearings via the Special Commission website: www.rubyprincessinquiry.nsw.gov.au

Bret Walker SC, Commissioner, Special Commission of Inquiry into the Ruby Princess.