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Police have sealed the house for forensic investigation. Source: AFP
Toys and flowers in the park near the Manoora house. Source: AFP
Acting Premier Tim Nicholls walks past the house. Picture: Liam Kidston. Source: News Corp Australia
Mersane Warria five years ago. Picture: Sean Davey Source: AFP
THE Queensland government has refused to comment on “rumour and speculation†that the Cairns family at the centre of yesterday’s mass murder was known to the state’s child safety department.
Acting Premier Tim Nicholls visited the scene in the Cairns suburb of Manoora today to lay flowers and pledge the government’s support and sorrow for the community.
Eight children between the ages of 18 months and 14 were killed in a house in the suburb yesterday.
The mother of seven of the children and aunt of the eighth, 37-year-old Mersane Warria, has been arrested for murder.
She is under police guard in the Cairns Base Hospital. She has not been formally charged. The Australian understands she has not provided a version of events to police.
Mr Nicholls said he had briefed Tony Abbott this morning on the tragedy. He said the Prime Minister also expressed “his sorrowâ€.
At a press conference in a nearby park that has become a hub for those grieving, Mr Nicholls was asked whether the family had been known to the state’s department of child safety.
He refused to comment, saying it was inappropriate while the police were investigating the tragedy and the circumstances leading up to it.
“That’s properly the domain of the police,†he said. “Speculation and rumour ... are not the currency of this investigation.â€
In the park, dozens of bouquets and flowers encircle the base of a large fig tree. There are candles in sets of eight, sets-of-eight small angel figurines, Torres Strait Islander flags, and notes of sorrow clearly penned by children.
Community advocate Yodie Batzke said she had spoken to representatives of the large grieving family, who were appealing for no photographs or names of the deceased children to be released.
Ms Batzke said it was culturally forbidden for those details to be made public, particularly by younger members of the families on social media.
She said the South Sea Islander community in Rockhampton, the Torres Strait Islander community in Brisbane, and the broader Cairns community was still grappling with the scale of the tragedy.