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| Premier Anna Bligh announces Seqwater will act as a "model litigant". |
QUEENSLANDERS are set to pay for a multibillion-dollar compensation claim as thousands of flood victims look likely to receive large, fuss-free legal payouts for losses in the January 2011 floods.
With Australia's largest class action now looming, the potential payout bill for the state is conservatively estimated at beyond $2 billion.
The expected lawsuit follows the flood inquiry's final report which has proven an explosive and potentially expensive revelation for the State Government just one week before the state poll.
While public officials have been left largely unscathed, three engineers - Terry Malone, John Tibaldi and Robert Ayre - now face a grilling from the crime watchdog on whether they created a fraudulent report and perjured themselves before the inquiry.
The crucial finding by Commissioner Cate Holmes that the engineers breached the dam manual on January 8-9 fuels a move by lawyers Maurice Blackburn to sue Seqwater.
Premier Anna Bligh, in a possible attempt to head off the class action, revealed yesterday Seqwater would now act as a "model litigant" if individuals approached for compensation claims.
"What that means is that you are required to fairly assess the claims, and that you are required to mediate the claims wherever possible rather than drag people through the courts," she said.
Ms Bligh said Seqwater had commercial insurance to protect against disasters which would help cover the claims. All Queenslanders will foot the bill through increased insurance premiums.
It is believed many flood-affected residents will opt to pursue the class action rather than settle out of court in the hope of much larger payouts, costing taxpayers even more.
Rod Hodgson, principal of law firm Maurice Blackburn, said a class action was "more likely than not".
It was now "crystal clear the report laid blame at the feet of Seqwater" for mismanagement of Wivenhoe Dam, he said.
The firm expected the number of victims to sign up to the "no win, no fee" action, currently involving about 1500 people, would now "grow dramatically".
For more analysis on the flood inquiry's final report grab a copy of The Saturday Courier-Mail
The scale and prospects of the action hinge on the value of independent flood modelling data, to be commissioned by the law firm and not expected to be available for some months.
This investigation, to be bankrolled by litigation funder IMF and triggering a global search for independent expert hydrologists, would be "complex, time-consuming and expensive", Mr Hodgson said.
Litigants will have to disprove the inquiry's finding the dam engineers achieved close to the best possible outcome in the handling of the dam.
The three dam engineers who controlled Wivenhoe during the floods are believed to be shocked by their referral to the CMC.
The inquiry heard allegations earlier this year the engineers did not follow the dam manual on water releases.
www.CourierMail.com.au
17.3.12
