TRANSCRIPT:
25 years on from the Childers Hostel fire, the pain is still raw for Karen Webb, whose sister was one of 15 people killed in the blaze.
"I ran in there calling her name. I was still thinking in my head, as a sister I’ll get you, I’ll protect you."
Ms Webb is one of a number of survivors and family members of victims who have returned to the small town of Childers in Queensland's south east to mark the 25th anniversary of the tragedy.
The Palace Backpacker Hostel in the small rural town was set alight in the early hours of the 23rd of June 2000, killing nine women and six men, most young travellers, from both Australia and overseas.
Richard Tempest was also one of the 88 people inside the hostel when it went up in flames.
He says he's never been able to forget what happened that night.
"It shapes your life, it changes you as a person of what you appreciate. Obviously we've all got older and we've all done our own life paths and careers and children and stuff. I made the choice to live here in Queensland many years later but yeah, it does change you as a person."
Another survivor, Rob Jansen, is from the Netherlands.
He has told SBS Dutch it's his first time visiting the town again in 15 years, a visit that brings back a lot of memories.
"It was just before I drove into Childers when I saw the Childers welcome sign. In the background, they had used a photo of the hostel, and yes, then I did get kind of emotional. It affected me more than I had expected. Various people will attend the ceremony, including myself, but also all kinds of dignitaries, parents of victims, and a few more survivors. So, it will be a day with laughter and tears."
The man responsible for the deadly blaze, Robert Paul Long, was a fruit picker also staying at the hostel - but had been kicked out for unpaid rent a week prior to lighting the fire.
He was sentenced to life in prison for arson and murder - and unsuccessfully applied for parole in 2020.
Because of the seriousness of his crimes, Long is classified as a restricted prisoner.
The Queensland Parole Board says it will not consider his most recent parole application while he has that status.
Richard Tempest says the other survivors and their families will continue to oppose Long being released.
"He's obviously a murderer and arsonist inside him so he doesn’t deserve to walk these streets and be mixed into society.”
Meanwhile, Karen Webb says she wants to remember her sister for how she lived - and not how she died.
"I can’t let what happened here define who Claire was. She was bubbly, she lit up the room, she loved to travel, she was desperate to come here. We wanted to come and honour Claire in our own way. That's why we went to Fraser Island yesterday, because that's where she wanted to go. I'd like to think that she's seen us here and knows that we're carrying her with us."
