Tori Johnson's father, Ken, embraces guests after his son's funeral last month. Photo / Getty
The Sydney cafe siege hostages who have sold their stories to TV networks for large sums of money have the right to do so, an inquest has been told.
It comes after much debate, including comments from former Victoria premier Jeff Kennett, criticising the paid interviews from some of the victims of the Lindt Cafe siege, which unfolded in December.
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The opening day of the inquest into the Martin Place siege - which ended in the deaths of barrister Katrina Dawson, cafe manager Tori Johnson and gunman Man Haron Monis - was told that the issue of paid hostage interviews had been discussed.
"The question of whether paid interviews ought to be prohibited has been publicly discussed," counsel assisting the coroner Jeremy Gormly said.
"At present, however, the law is that unless there is a contempt it's not automatically illegal for a witness to give a paid interview," he said on Thursday.
Monis held 18 people captive in the Martin Place cafe.
Survivor Marcia Mikhael has been signed by the Seven Network, and was reportedly paid more than A$300,000 ($323,000), while 82-year-old hostage survivor John O'Brien was reportedly paid A$100,000.
A further six survivors have been secured by Nine, which is understood to have forked out A$1 million for the combined package.
Mr Gormly says the TV interviews have not been viewed by the coronial team but they have seen the promotional material.
He says there is no likelihood of actionable contempt.
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"The tapes of the interviews are of course a version of the events and will be examined like any other evidence," he said.
"All hostages had already been interviewed for this inquest and statements have been obtained and I think almost every one of them had been signed."
Mr Kennett last week described hostages who sold their stories as "just plain grubby".
Controversial New South Wales upper house MP Fred Nile said funds from the TV interviews should be directed to charity.
Mr Kennett said most hostage survivors would be entitled to financial compensation.
"Two innocent hostages lost their lives. I do not think it is morally right that the media pay, and any of those who were saved should profit from the attack. Just plain grubby," Mr Kennett had tweeted.
The inquest was told Ms Dawson was killed by ricocheting fragments of a police bullet or bullets after officers stormed the Sydney cafe following the execution of Tori Johnson.
The opening day of the inquest heard graphic details of the events that unfolded at the end of the Martin Place siege last month.
"Ms Dawson was struck by six fragments of a police bullet or bullets which ricocheted from hard surfaces into her body," counsel assisting the coroner Jeremy Gormly said.
A hostage runs to armed tactical response police officers for safety. Photo / AP
Mr Gormly said Monis made Mr Johnson kneel on the floor of the cafe early on December 16.
"After a short lapse of time, Mr Monis simply shot him without further notice or warning in the back of the head," he said.
"The end of the barrel was about 75cm from Mr Johnson's head at the moment of discharge."
Mr Johnson is believed to have died immediately.
"The shot was witnessed by a police marksman who called it in."
That resulted in immediate order to force entry of the cafe."
Mr Gormly told the inquest Monis was killed as he was trying to reload his shotgun.
The inquest heard that on the morning of December 15, Monis went into the cafe and ordered a piece of chocolate cake.
He asked to be moved to a table close to the rear doors, enabling him to see the whole cafe, before requesting to speak to the manager.
Those who knew Mr Johnson could tell he was stressed by what Monis was telling him, the inquest sitting at the New South Wales Coroner's Court in Sydney heard today.
Haron Monis was well known to police. Photo / AAP
Mr Johnson told staff to shut the cafe down.
Monis then put on a vest and a bandanna. He stood up, produced a pump action shotgun and by one account, he stated: "This is an attack, I have a bomb."
He ordered everyone to stand up and move to the northern wall of the cafe while ordering hostages to hold an Islamic-style flag.
At 9.44am local time (11.44am NZT), Johnson placed an emergency at the request of Monis, saying Australia was under attack by the Islamic State group.
Police were on the scene by 9.51am.
During the siege, Monis discharged a total of five shotgun cartridges on four separate occasions, the inquest heard.
Mr Gormly said the inquest would look at what happened and why, and whether it could have been avoided.
A lot of the information will come from the hostages, who had gone through an unimaginable experience.
"They are our eyes and ears and memory," Mr Gormly said.
Due to the size of the probe, it is likely to be divided into a series of segments so the matter can be heard as quickly as possible.
Among the issues that will be canvassed is the handling of the siege by the New South Wales police, the use of marksmen and communication with the family of hostages.
A full probe of Monis's makeup and motivation will also take place, including his criminal history, his religious claims, his media profile and his personal relationships.
A screengrab taken from Monis' website, before it was taken down. Photo / AAP
Why he was on bail at the time of the shooting will also be looked at.
"For an event that took only 17 hours, there has resulted in what has been described to me as hundreds of hours of material, Mr Gormly said.
"Every shot fired by Mr Monis and police officers is likely to be accounted for."
He said all hostages had already been interviewed by police and that paid media appearances will be examined like any other evidence.
State Coroner Michael Barnes adjourned the proceedings to a place and date to be fixed.
The coronial inquest is aimed at determining how Monis and his captives died and whether their deaths could have been prevented.
"Rarely have such horrifying events unfolded so publicly," Coroner Barnes told the court.
"Overlaying the intense personal suffering on display were fearsome themes which called up wider and more far-reaching threats that understandably terrified many, even among those who only saw it from afar," he said.
An armed tactical response police officer grabs a hostage as she runs to flee from the cafe . Photo / AP
"We will do all within our power to undertake a comprehensive investigation that is rigorous, independent and searching."
No members of Ms Dawson's family were at Glebe Coroner's Court for the opening day, but members of Mr Johnson's family were present. John O'Brien was the only former hostage attending.
Coroner Barnes acknowledged the horrifying events and said inquiry staff were steadying themselves.
He cautioned people unfamiliar with the court system, saying that if "we appear dispassionate" it didn't mean they were unconcerned.
"If we are focused on matters forensic, do not fear we have forgotten your grief."
He said prioritising the inquiry wouldn't cause others to be delayed, and stressed the court must protect the families and hostages from the further harm which could flow from forcing them to relive the tragic events too soon.
"The desire for urgent answers" must be weighed against the need for reliable evidence, he said.
The court would do everything in its power to ensure a rigorous and searching inquiry.
Monis's partner, Amirah Droudis, is being represented by lawyer Angelo Bilias.
Solicitors for Mr Johnson's and Ms Dawson's families sought leave to appear, as did counsel Ray Hood for "Officer A", whose name cannot be reported.
Watch: Sydney gunman had 'infatuation with extremism'
Greg Willis is appearing for "Officer B" in the cafe siege entry team.
In his opening address, Mr Gormly said that by the end of the inquiry, there should be a "high level" of information about what happened on December 15 last year.
"We will most likely have a detailed and comprehensive picture of the siege," he said.
He said the inquest will look at what happened and why, and whether it could have been avoided. It will also examine whether it had community implications.
"In this case, as in most cases, some facts are not contentious," he said, adding the time and place of deaths is known.
"What needs full examination is manner and cause of each of the deaths of Ms Dawson and Mr Johnson."
Mr Gormly said there were "no magic wands in an inquest", but the court owed it to the Dawson and Johnson families to answer necessary questions with cool heads.
Outlining facts already known, Mr Gormly described the investigation as "intensely detailed and broad".
The bodies of Ms Dawson and Mr Johnson had been returned to their families. Monis has been buried and "no more needs to be said about that".
There would be ballistic testing of Monis's shotgun and police weapons.
The handling of the siege by New South Wales police would be analysed. The coroner has arranged for an independent critical assessment of the police effort by UK police experts.
They will be assisted by interstate police providing insight into the domestic context.
Evidence is likely to be heard on questions surrounding the use of police marksmen and whether they should have acted early or not.
"If there were defects in the management of the siege, they will be exposed," Mr Gormly said.
The inquest will also probe how the police managed communications with families of the hostages during the siege.
The investigation will sift film, sound recordings, texts, Facebook pages and other social media, CCTV footage, emails and more than 300,000 phone calls.
A full probe of Monis's makeup and motivation will take place, with a psychiatric profile likely to shed light on the situation, Mr Gormly said.
His criminal history, his religious claims, his media profile and his personal relationships will also come under the microscope, as will his history with guns.
An investigation into the bail applications of Monis will also be delved into.
Mr Gormly said the completion of some parts of the investigation won't be quick and easy, with some matters taking longer than others to investigate.
Rather than waiting for the conclusion of all of the investigation, he said they would look at holding the inquest in segments.
These would include the facts of the siege, siege management, the experience of the hostages, and Monis and his motivations and his bail situation.
A large number of witnesses are expected.
Mr Gormly then outlined a "provisional" issues list, including the particulars of death of each person and the security information on Monis.
For example, was he being monitored at all and what terrorist associations, if any, did he have?
Mr Gormly said the inquest will delve into claims that Monis's actions were Islamic State (Isis) related as well as false claims of having bombs in his control.
It will also look at the demands he made during the siege.
The inquest will look at how social media contact affected the resolution of the siege and whether it was regarded as a terrorist activity.
As to police entry, it will look at how the entry occurred and what happened when they burst in.
In releasing some of the evidence already known, Mr Gormly warned that the investigation was incomplete.
Separately, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has ordered a sweeping government review of the siege and the events leading up to it.
The review, expected to be released in the next week or two, will examine why Monis was out on bail despite facing a string of violent charges, including 40 counts of sexual assault and accessory to murder in the slaying of his ex-wife.
The review will also address how Monis obtained a shotgun despite Australia's strict gun laws.
Monis was on the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation's watch list in 2008 and 2009, but was later dropped from it.
The agency was tracking Monis because he had sent a series of offensive letters to the families of dead Australian soldiers.
- AAP
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