THE Newman government flouted a key recommendation of the $15 million floods commission of inquiry by insisting on restrictions that led to a distorted review of the operation of Queensland's Wivenhoe Dam, The Australian can reveal.
As a result of this high-level decision in Brisbane, American engineers were engaged to perform a costly six-week review based on a misleading premise, after the floods inquiry's serious adverse findings in March.
The US Army Corps of Engineers and engineers from a US government department were told in their terms of reference that the year-long public floods inquiry was "not within the scope of the review".
The floods inquiry head, Queensland Supreme Court Justice Catherine Holmes, had already found the flood engineers did not properly take into account forecast rainfall to determine the appropriate release strategy from the dam, did not use the correct water-release strategy and deliberately covered up their breaches of the dam's operating manual.
The flood engineers, who have repeatedly and strenuously denied wrongdoing, were referred to the Crime and Misconduct Commission in March. It determined last month there should be no criminal prosecution, which would have been "oppressive".
Most of the adverse findings made by the floods inquiry revolve around the Wivenhoe engineers' 1000-plus-pages flood event report, their official account of what they did in the flood. The floods inquiry's findings described it as a "false report" and a "facade of precision" that was designed to mislead the public and the inquiry into believing that the dam was managed correctly.
Justice Holmes stated in the final report that a subsequent review of this controversial false report and how the dam was operated "must involve an examination of how the flood engineers exercised their powers; and a failure to appreciate what those powers were because of a failure to recognise the appropriate strategy must be relevant in that regard".
But two months ago the terms of reference for the review by US engineers specifically prevented this requirement. This came a month after Premier Campbell Newman wrongly claimed the floods inquiry had made "no adverse finding" about the operation of the dam.
The US engineers who conducted the six-week review of documents praised the false flood report and the operation of the Wivenhoe Dam, as described by the dam engineers in their controversial report, which the floods inquiry had been told was "fiction".
Senior government insiders confirmed to The Weekend Australian yesterday that ministers and bureaucrats were adhering to strict legal advice because of the risk of a massive damages payout due to the mismanagement of the dam, following the inundation of thousands of homes.
Asked why the floods inquiry's recommendation was not followed, a government spokesman said yesterday: "The Premier stands by the way in which the independent review of SEQWater's report was undertaken. The Premier now wants the legal process surrounding issues of liability to progress unhindered."
Maurice Blackburn senior lawyer Damian Scattini said the Newman government was embarking on a deliberately misleading campaign in an attempt to limit its potential multi-billion-dollar legal liability to flood victims.
- HEDLEY THOMAS, NATIONAL CHIEF CORRESPONDENT
www.TheAustralian.com.au
29.9.12
