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| Flood victims meet at Indooroopily Bowls Club. |
THERE was standing room only and some were turned away as Brisbane flood victims gathered today to discuss a possible class-action lawsuit against the operators of the Wivenhoe Dam.
Lawyers rallied support in the Brisbane suburbs of Indooroopilly and Yeerongpilly for a class-action lawsuit against the state dam operators for failing to protect homeowners and businesses during the 2011 flood, a move that could result in more than $1 billion in compensation payouts if successful.
Many more than 200 people attended, and half of them were standing in the crowded hall at the Indooroopilly Bowls Club.
Maurice Blackburn lawyers, backed litigation funder IMP Australia, have already signed up 3000 flood victims and say it is "very likely" a lawsuit will be filed, as early as the end of July.
Hundreds of homeowners and business owners who lost millions of dollars when flood waters were released from the dam attended the meetings at the Indooroopilly Bowls Club and Brisbane Golf Club today.
Two other meetings are scheduled tomorrow in Acacia Ridge and South Brisbane.
The meetings were touted as information sessions to inform people about independent investigations conducted by the law firm as it builds its negligence case against dam operators for allegedly failing in their duty of care to prompt a finding of negligence against the state.
Maurice Blackburn has not tipped which court it will file a suit in, or how much in damages would be sought. But previous estimates have placed damages above the $1 billion mark.
The government, facing a budget crisis, is taking a more hard line stand against litigants.
Premier Campbell Newman, who pledged before the election he would not force people into court to get fair treatment if they felt they deserved compensation, now says claims are a "legal matter" he won't comment on.
He says the government's dam inquiry made no adverse findings against Seqwater, the dam operators.
But Maurice Blackburn says there are negative findings, and its experts were stunned at how poorly the dam was managed, comparing the tragedy to missteps that led to the Titanic disaster.
There is a precedent in the US for flood victims using a class action suit to win millions of dollars in compensation from negligent dam operators.
Four hundred flood victims in Oklahoma joined forces in a 15-year battle against the Grand River Dam Authority before winning a major settle three years ago.
Maurice Blackburn said a class action suit they filed following the Victorian bushfires is heading to trial.
COMMENT: Premier Campbell Newman's claim that the Floods Commission made "no adverse findings" against the Wivenhoe Dam operator Seqwater shows that he is either living in Cuckoo Land or hasn't read the Commission's final report. The Commission found that the dam had NOT been operated in accordance with the dam Operating Manual from 8am on Saturday 8 January 2011 and moreover, if it had been operated in accordance with the manual, downstream flooding in Ipswich and Brisbane would have been lower. In addition, the Commissioner Cate Holmes referred three Seqwater dam engineers to the CMC to investigate their possible official and criminal misconduct. If Campbell Newman really believes that the final report does not specifically contain any "adverse findings" against Seqwater, he is guilty of the most-disgraceful cover-up and political spin by any Premier since the Queensland Parliament was established in 1859.
24.6.12
