Royal Commission on the Statement of Lieutenant Commander Cabban and Matters Incidental Thereto

Announced by Prime Minister Harold Holt on 18 May 1967, after sustained parliamentary and public pressure over the first Voyager royal commission and Cabban's statement. The commissioners were Sir Stanley Burbury (Chief Justice of Tasmania), Justice Kenneth Asprey and Justice Geoffrey Lucas. It was to inquire whether Cabban's allegations about Captain Stevens were true, whether the Naval Board knew or should have known of any unfitness, and related matters. It opened on 13 June 1967 and began hearings on 18 July 1967; the Letters Patent are dated 31 May 1967.

1. 13 June 1967Commission opened.
2. 18 July 1967Public hearings began.
3. 2 April 1968Prime Minister Gorton made a statement in Parliament on the report.

Its report, after 85 days of hearings, was released on 25 February 1968 (the date it was signed was not found). It found that Stevens had been medically unfit for command because of a recurring duodenal ulcer, though not affected by alcohol at the time of the collision, and absolved Captain Robertson and the officers of Melbourne. Prime Minister John Gorton made a statement on the report on 2 April 1968, and the Government made an act of grace payment to Robertson. The Parliamentary Handbook gives 13 March 1968 as the date the final report was presented.

• Truth of Lieutenant Commander Cabban's allegations about Captain Stevens
• Whether the Naval Board knew or should have known of Stevens' unfitness
• Implications for the findings of the first Voyager royal commission

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