The Australian government's
handling of ransom demands for backpacker David Wilson has attracted new
criticisms during an inquiry into his 1994 murder by the Khmer Rouge in
Cambodia.

West Australian man Darryl
Hockey has given a statement to the Melbourne Coroners' Court containing
fresh criticisms of the "sufficiency of the interventions made by the
Australian government" in relation to Mr Wilson.

Mr Hockey said he gathered the
information, which was not detailed in court on Monday, from people in
Cambodia claiming to have first-hand knowledge of the Melbourne
backpacker's fate.

Mr Wilson, 29, and two
companions were kidnapped by the Khmer Rouge during an attack on a train
in which they were travelling in Cambodia in July 1994.

The Khmer Rouge demanded a ransom of US$50,000 in gold for each of the hostages, but the Australian government maintained its policy of not paying ransoms and refused to accept private offers for their payment.

Mr Wilson, Frenchman Jean-Michel
Braquet and Englishman Mark Slater were murdered in early September
1994, after negotiations between the Cambodian and Australian
governments and their captors broke down.

Three former Khmer Rouge
guerillas, including the commander of the group that kidnapped Mr
Wilson, have been convicted of his murder.

At a coronial inquest that began
in 1998, several criticisms of the handling of the negotiations were
raised, including a detailed account by former Australian diplomat
Alastair Gaisford, who was stationed in Cambodia at the time of the
kidnapping.

When the inquest re-opened on
Monday after a 13-year adjournment, counsel assisting the coroner said
Mr Hockey had offered his unsolicited statement following his own
investigations in Cambodia.

Dr Ian Freckelton SC told the court Mr Hockey had come across information while living in southern Cambodia last year.

As a result, he travelled to the
area in which the hostages had been held and interviewed several people
he believed had first-hand information about the case.

Mr Hockey's information follows a
newspaper article published earlier this year in which Mr Gaisford
claimed the key to finding the truth in the Wilson case lay with former
foreign minister Gareth Evans.

Mr Gaisford has said he was a
consul in the embassy in Phnom Penh at the time of the kidnapping and
murder and had worked on the Wilson case.

He said Mr Evans was in Bangkok
during the week of the kidnapping but rejected embassy advice that he
come to Cambodia and "use his unique influence" to assist in obtaining
the hostages' release.

Dr Freckelton told the court the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade maintained Mr Gaisford did not
hold the position of consul and had never risen beyond second secretary
at the Australian mission.

He said Mr Gaisford would apply to appear before the inquest when it resumed and wanted to call witnesses.

Dr Freckelton told Coroner Iain
West Mr Hockey's evidence might be pertinent, but it had been gathered
many years after the relevant events and was hearsay.

He recommended Mr Hockey not be called as a witness.

The inquest has been adjourned to a date to be fixed.