Port Hedland house fire: Police Commissioner Col Blanch says police working with Department of Communities

Police Commissioner Col Blanch says police are working with the Department of Communities to establish the “exact details” around the contact the welfare agency had with the mother accused of murdering her three children in a Port Hedland house fire. Mr Blanch’s comments came after The West Australian revealed the Department had opened an internal investigation into its official interactions with Margaret Hawke and her three young children, aged 10, seven and five months. “We are working with the Department of Communities and we have been from the start to have a good understanding,” Mr Blanch told morning radio on Wednesday. “Yes, there was definitely contact, we will say that but as far as the exact details, these are the things we are working through with the Department of Communities at the moment.” Asked if he was satisfied with the level of cooperation being given by the department, Mr Blanch responded: “We’ve got a long relationship with the Department of Communities”. “I am a huge advocate of information sharing, timely information sharing, real time information sharing, to make sure we are protecting our community as best as we can,” he said. “I think government agencies across the board can always improve on information sharing and certainly I want to make sure that police are leading that discussion and we have been to date.” Mr Blanch reiterated that the alleged murders were a “tragic situation for the community of Port Hedland”. “I know the family of the three young kids and also the whole family and community across Western Australia are grieving significantly,” he said. “I’ve got to say, the most important thing for us at the moment is to make sure we’ve got the brief of evidence and the investigation and the forensics right, and also we work with the community to restore the grieving that’s going on in Port Hedland.” Ms Hawke appeared in Perth Magistrates Court on Tuesday for the first time after being charged with murdering her three kids, whose deaths were discovered after firefighters responded to a house fire on Anderson street on July 19. On Tuesday, the Department said the family was “known to the Department of Communities” and that it “immediately commenced a review into its interactions with the family, as is standard with any case of this nature”. “As we must respect that there is a court process underway, we are unable to provide further comment.” Shadow health minister Libby Mettam said it was crucial that the investigation was “thorough and transparent”. It comes as police called out for dash-cam or mobile phone footage of the areas on and between Cemetery Beach, the Spoilbank Marina, Moore Street, Taplin Street, Meiklejohn Street, and Anderson Street in Port Hedland on the day of the alleged murders. Police would like to see footage taken between 2pm and 5pm that day.