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| A flooded McGill Street home in Basin Pocket. |
IPSWICH West MP Sean Choat said his government would honour any court judgement on a class action on behalf of flood victims and has backed the flood maps released by Maurice Blackburn lawyers as the best that could be expected in the circumstances.
The class action against the State Government, to be launched by Maurice Blackburn, will aim to prove that the Wivenhoe Dam was not operated to a standard expected of a reasonably competent dam operator.
Mr Choat said areas he represents such as Fernvale and Lowood were devastated by the flood and that "if someone was at fault, then people are entitled to be compensated".
"If that is at a cost to government, then so be it," he said.
If someone was at fault, then people are entitled to be compensated. If that is at a cost to government, then so be it.
"I was involved quite heavily in the recovery. People in the next street were inundated and we took a family into our home. Obviously the government of the day is no longer there, but we are now responsible and we should not shy away from our responsibilities."
The flood maps released by Maurice Blackburn have been criticised in certain quarters.
Several people in the green section of the map, where there would have been no flooding had Wivenhoe Dam been operated correctly, have said they didn't flood.
"But from what I can see the maps we have are as close to being accurate as what we are going to get," Mr Choat said.
"The only way to go one better is to go from house to house. There are satellite photos they have been able to use that have been able to give a better assessment of what areas were affected than we had back 1974, when a lot of it was based on hearsay."
Maurice Blackburn principal Damian Scattini said the flood lines on the released maps were "the product of aerial mapping done by Ipswich City Council, Brisbane City Council, the Department of Environment and Resource Management and the Queensland Reconstruction Authority".
"Our experts have said what would have happened had the dam at Wivenhoe been operated correctly," he said.
"Some people have said that they didn't flood at all and they were in the green ... but that is entirely consistent with our experts' model that said they shouldn't have flooded. But it was the government and council maps that said they had flooding."
24.1.13
COMMENT: Sean Choat, Member for Ipswich West has taken a sensible and appropriate stance on this issue. Many of his constituents suffered enormously in the 2011 flood, so his support is very welcome to ensure that claimants in a class action by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers get their day in court, now that the State Government has said it will respect any legal decision to compensate flood victims. Sean Choat has the interests of the the people of his electorate genuinely at heart and all flood victims will be thankful for his continuing efforts on their behalf and his statement of support today.
