- The Board of Inquiry held four rounds of public hearings at the County Court of Victoria and the Federal Court of Australia in Melbourne on the following dates:
- 7 to 16 May 2025;
- 20 to 24 June 2025;
- 4 and 5 August 2025; and
- 18 August 2025.
- In total, 26 witnesses were called to give evidence. All witnesses attended in person.
The following table lists hearing dates, topics and witnesses.
Date Witness name and role Topic Wednesday 7 May Darren Paul, Technical Director – Engineering Geology, WSP The science of landslides Thursday 8 May Dane Pope, Principal Geotechnical Engineer, PSM Consult Pty Ltd The science of landslides and brief overview of the 2022 landslides and events leading up to the 2025 landslides Bulent Oz, former Acting Chief Executive Officer, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council Actions taken by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council Friday 9 May David Simon, Acting Director Planning and Environment, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council Actions taken by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council Monday 12 May Kellie Moran, McCrae resident
Nicholas Moran, McCrae resident
Brett Cooper, McCrae resident
Kevin Hutchings, McCrae resident
Events leading up to and including the 2025 landslides and their impacts Wednesday 14 May John Bolch, McCrae resident
Paul Willigenburg, McCrae resident
Gerrard Borghesi, McCrae resident
Events leading up to and including the 2022 and 2025 landslides and their impacts Thursday 15 May Gerrard Borghesi, McCrae resident Events leading up to and including the 2022 and 2025 landslides and their impacts Friday 16 May Lara Olsen, Managing Director, South East Water Actions taken by South East Water Friday 20 June David Smith, Director – Assets and Infrastructure, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
Claudio Flores, Principal Building Surveyor, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
Katanya Barlow, Manager, Strategic and Infrastructure Planning, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
Actions taken by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council Monday 23 June Tim Lloyd, General Manager for Service Delivery, South East Water
Jason Marsh, former employee of South East Water
Actions taken by South East Water Friday 24 June Jonathan Crook, Group Manager for Analytics and Performance, South East Water
Julian Tully, Technical Director of Civil and Environmental Engineering, South East Water
Andrew Forster-Knight, General Manager, Digital and Transformation, South East Water
Actions taken by South East Water Monday 4 August
Tuesday 5 August
Experts engaged by the Board of Inquiry
Darren Paul, Technical Director – Engineering Geology, WSP
Stephen Makin, Hydrogeologist, WSP
Dr Hong Vu, Geochemist/Geochemical Modeller, WSP
Experts engaged by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council
Dane Pope, Principal Geotechnical Engineer, PSM Consult Pty Ltd
Phillip Hitchcock, Principal Hydrogeologist, Australian Environmental Auditors Pty Ltd
Experts engaged by South East Water
David Hartley, Senior Associate Engineer, SMEC
Hugo Bolton, Technical Principal Hydrogeologist, SMEC
Chris Jewell, Owner of C.M. Jewell & Associates Pty Ltd
Causation Monday 18 August Darren Paul, Technical Director – Engineering Geology, WSP
Dane Pope, Principal Geotechnical Engineer, PSM Consult Pty Ltd
Mitigation measures
Updated