Mum, girl taken hostage as payback:court

A gunman who held a mother and daughter hostage in their Brisbane home told the pair his actions were payback for an affair and that he was prepared to die before he shot himself, a coroner has heard.

A pre-inquest conference heard details on Wednesday of how Brent Rivett held the mother and her then 13-year-old daughter against their will inside their Banyo home on Boxing Day in 2013.

It heard Rivett, 45, believed his former partner had had an affair with the woman's husband.

Counsel Assisting Emily Cooper said the pair were doing household chores when Rivett grabbed the mother while she did the washing in the backyard of the house. Her husband had left for work shortly before.

Rivett dragged the woman to the laundry warning her if she screamed she would be killed.

The woman noticed he had a gun and Rivett told her he was "prepared to die today", Ms Cooper said.

When she realised who the man was - she had met him 10 years previous - he told her his actions were "payback" for her husband.

Rivett then gagged her and asked where her daughter, who had already called triple-zero, was.

He then requested access to a safe but was instead directed to a drawer containing $5000.

After demanding the keys to the family's BMW, he walked the woman to the garage door and when it opened police were standing outside.

"She was trying to mouth the word gun," Ms Cooper said, adding Rivett then reappeared and let off one shot.

The mother was then taken upstairs and ordered stay in the bathroom with her daughter.

About half-an-hour later, a single gunshot was fired and the daughter went to the window and waved to police.

Rivett's body was discovered in the upstairs part of the house.

Ms Cooper said the inquest would clarify the circumstances leading up to Rivett's death and determine the adequacy of the police response and subsequent investigation.

She said she didn't intend to call the daughter as a witness as she'd already provided a statement and it wasn't in the 15-year-old's interests to recount the event.

The inquest before Coroner Terry Ryan will be held on October 12 and 13.