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| Looking west from the chemist shop at the corner of Queen St and Brisbane Rd Goodna at the height of the January 2011 Brisbane River flood. |
IT is now official - the final report of the floods inquiry has found there was a serious cover-up over the devastating floods last year.
It involved collusion, dishonesty and lying. The inquiry found three engineers presented false evidence after the event in an attempt to protect their professional reputations.
The cover-up concealed a breach of the operating manual for Wivenhoe Dam, Queensland's most dangerous and powerful infrastructure, between 8am on January 8 until the evening of January 9, according to the findings.
The scathing findings delivered today, in the final report of the Floods inquiry by Supreme Court of Appeal judge Catherine Holmes, confirm that she and her team were fed false evidence.
One view of the findings is the Queensland public at large and thousands of victims of the devastation in January 2011 were also taken for mugs.
But at the same time, the inquiry's independent expert has not criticised the actual releases from the dam, and maintains that those releases were competent.
Overall these are deeply wounding and damaging findings for the flood engineers and SEQWater. Three of the four engineers are being referred to the Crime and Misconduct Commission, and face criminal perjury-related charges.
SEQ Water should have come clean in the beginning with meaningful apologies, offered damages to those adversely affected, and promised to make good with a complete overhaul of operating systems and a first-class performance next time.
Instead, the final report has found the truth of how the dam operated was distorted for a year. The effect was that the Bligh Government-owned authority responsible, SEQWater, spun like a top while those in charge of the dam were commended as thousands of flooded Queenslanders suffered misery and hardship after their huge losses.
At this time, we can feel some sympathy for the individuals who managed the dam - these men never intended to cause harm.
They were well intentioned in the flood event. In my view, they were let down by a hopelessly lax regime of water management for which executives should also be held accountable. The complacency in SEQWater was unforgivable, and will feed a public perception that the Bligh Government cannot properly manage important public assets.
While concern for the current plight of these men is understandable, the public interest - and tens of thousands of Queenslanders - should be afforded a higher priority.
Public confidence and safety, prudent operation of the dam, and the lives and livelihoods of a large and vulnerable population would be severely comprised if not for today's report and the learning of serious lessons for floods yet to come.
16.3.12
