The daughter of a woman who was left behind by a cruise ship on a remote island and later died has accused the operator of a "failure of care and common sense".
The body of Suzanne Rees, 80, was found by rescue workers on Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef on Sunday. The day before, she had been hiking on the island with her fellow passengers but was not on the ship when it left hours later.
Katherine Rees said she was "shocked and saddened" that the Coral Adventurer left "without my mum", whom she described as healthy, active, a keen gardener and bushwalker.
"From the little we have been told, it seems that there was a failure of care and common sense," she said on Thursday.
It's understood that Suzanne Rees, from New South Wales, was on the first stop of a 60-day cruise around Australia, which had left Cairns earlier this week.
