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| Cr Paul Tully |
AS USUAL, Ken Alderton
completely evades the central point of the Wivenhoe Dam debate (QT
1/10).
The question of whether the dam was operated negligently in the
days leading up to the flood on January 11, 2011, will be a matter for the
courts, with the evidence of engineers and hydrologists tested before a Supreme
Court judge.
The standard of proof in a civil case is on the balance of
probabilities, which means the evidential onus in any class action instituted by
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers might be more easily met by the plaintiffs.
I
should place on record that Mr Alderton does show a modicum of perspicacity in
acknowledging that former Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s claim in 1985 of the end
of Brisbane River floods following the commissioning of the Wivenhoe Dam was a
total political furphy.
Former Ipswich City engineer Bob Gamble once
described the flooding characteristics of the Bremer and Brisbane River systems
as "the most complex in Australia" and consistently predicted future major
floods in Ipswich and Brisbane.
Irrespective of the outcome of any class
action, I agree with your correspondent that we must look to the future to avoid
the widespread complacency in the community which crept in during the decades
following the 1974 flood that it would never happen again.
One only has
to look at the 1893 flood which was six metres higher than last year’s flood to
realise that far worse floods than 1974 and 2011 remain a real
possibility.
CR PAUL TULLY
Goodna
www.QT.com.au
4.10.12 |
