NSW: Perth man given go ahead to sue over Voyager disaster

AAP General News (Australia)
04-14-1999
NSW: Perth man given go ahead to sue over Voyager disaster

By Margaret Scheikowski

SYDNEY, April 14 AAP - A 53-year-old former aircraft handler today got the go-ahead to sue
the Commonwealth over the Voyager disaster, Australia's worst peace-time military accident.

In granting an extension of time to enable Roger Wladislaw Parici to sue, Master Joanne
Harrison accepted that he only became aware that he had developed identifiable psychiatric
conditions in mid-1995.

Mr Parici, of Busselton in Perth, had asked the New South Wales Supreme Court for the
extension of time, submitting that his major depression and chronic post-traumatic distress
disorder were not diagnosed until 1995.

He was only 18-years-old and working on the HMAS Melbourne in 1964 when it collided with
the destroyer HMAS Voyager during a training exercise off the New South Wales south coast,
claiming 82 lives.

In his affidavit, Mr Parici said he was off-duty watching a movie in the mess when suddenly
he was thrown to the deck by a jolt.

He rushed up to the flight deck and became terrified, filled with horror and fear, as he
saw the Voyager going down.

Mr Parici was asked to help clean up debris from the Voyager.

"He saw a set of human brains and a crewman from the sick bay was called and the brains
were placed in a container," Ms Harrison said.

"The plaintiff became very distressed and vomited."

When he went ashore he was abused by the public and called a "murderer" and "killer".

As he was told not to discuss the disaster with anyone, he was unable to talk about it with
his family and received no counselling.

Mr Parici, who left the Navy in 1966 after injuring his knee, said he took to drinking and
smoking heavily, had flashbacks, was irritable, restless, angry, depressed and claustrophobic.

But over the years he did not realise he had a psychiatric illness nor was he aware his
behaviour was related to the collision.

The Commonwealth had argued against Mr Parici being granted the extension of time,
unsuccessfully submitting that he knew in 1991 he suffered from symptoms which could only be
psychiatric in nature.

AAP mss/sb/maur

KEYWORD: VOYAGER (CARRIED EARLIER)

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