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| EXPERTS for Maurice Blackburn lawyers have released an animated flyover of areas they say should not have been flooded during the 2011 disaster. |
LAWYERS chasing recruits for one of the biggest class actions in the nation's history have admitted to errors in maps they are using to tout for business.
The maps released by law firm Maurice Blackburn on Monday were said to show areas of Brisbane and Ipswich that the firm claims would not have flooded in January 2011 if Wivenhoe Dam had operated properly.
The lawyers said the maps reflected the findings of unnamed US experts paid more than $1 million to advise on the case - findings that would probably form a central part of the potential $1 billion-plus class action against the Government.
But yesterday the law firm admitted the maps were inaccurate, and that it had known as much before their release on Monday.
Instead, the lawyers said, the maps were meant "for illustrative and educational purposes" only.
They said they would not present the maps as evidence in court and also said they would not identify the US experts in an attempt to keep them away from the media.
Maurice Blackburn principal solicitor Damian Scattini said the colour-coded maps had served their purpose in helping to determine the financial viability of the lawsuit and publicising it.
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| ONE of the flood maps released by Maurice Blackburn lawyers earlier this week. |
"It's not a piece of evidence we would ever present in court," Mr Scattini said.
Lawyers will allege dam operators should have been on emergency footing, making major releases in December 2010, but instead negligently flooded entire suburbs in a panic the next month.
Maurice Blackburn and the company financing the the action, IMF, say there was significant negligence before and during the floods.
IMF is risking up to $10 million in the expectation of a big government payout.
Mr Scattini said flooding shown in the maps was determined by overlaying aerial imaging generated by Ipswich and Brisbane councils, the then-Department of Environment and Resource Management, and the Queensland Reconstruction Authority.
Within these areas, the firm used orange colour-coding to show those that would have received at least 150mm of water regardless of how the state's dams were managed, and green for those that would not have flooded at all if the dams were run to an acceptable standard.
Some Brisbane residents have complained their properties did not flood but were shown in the green area.
Mr Scattini yesterday conceded his firm had been aware of errors but said it was not responsible for them.
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| ON TRACK: IMF executive director John Walker and Maurice Blackburn principal solicitor Damian Scattini plan to file their class action by April. |
"Our own experts pointed them out to us," he said.
"If the Queensland Reconstruction Authority says people flooded and they didn't, then good luck to them."
State Government departments contacted by The Courier-Mail declined to comment on the accuracy of the maps.
Engineers Australia yesterday called on Maurice Blackburn to release "any credible technical evidence" to back its claims.
Mr Scattini said that was to be expected of the professional body representing the dam engineers who are likely to be named in the lawsuit.
He said his firm would disclose the relevant information to the Government before making it public.
Expert findings on the true extent of the flooding - down to 10sq m - were part of the firm's legal argument and would be used later.
"To use the old phrase, we're keeping our powder dry," Mr Scattini said.
He confirmed that people did not necessarily have to have suffered physical flood damage to their properties to join the action.
They could claim if their businesses had been disrupted or property had lost value, as long as they could prove the losses, he said.
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