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| An aerial view of flooded areas a round suburban Brisbane in January 2011. |
TWO years on from the devastating 2011 floods, the State Government has implemented fewer than half the recommendations of the flood inquiry.
Ten months after Justice Cate Holmes handed down her final report, 76 of the 123 recommendations that apply to the State Government remain outstanding.
Premier Campbell Newman promised during the 2012 election campaign to act on everything the inquiry called for after the final report was delivered a week before Queenslanders went to the polls last March.
The Courier-Mail print edition this week presents a series of special reports exploring the aftermath of the January 2011 southeast floods. TOMORROW: The changes that may flood-proof Brisbane
But with the state in the middle of another wet season, one of the most significant flood inquiry projects - for a "whole of catchment" flood study to inform policy across the southeast - is stuck in the stalls.
Terms of reference for the three-year, $5 million joint study between the State Government and Brisbane, Ipswich, Somerset and Lockyer councils have still not been finalised
Even the size of the 2011 event remains undecided.
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| During January 2011, the Brisbane River flooded South Bank Parklands and the CBD. This view from South Bank looks towards the city as the waters rise. |
One of the inquiry's most basic requests, to resolve a discrepancy in the peak river height recorded in January 2011 between the Brisbane City and Port Office flood gauges, is still on the "to-do" list.
Other key recommendations yet to be implemented cover the drafting of flood planning controls for councils, which would have big implications for property development, and flood-risk alerts to prospective property buyers.
Improvements to official reports of flood events, the focus of days of inquiry hearings, were the subject of several recommendations but the Government is unable to report progress on any of them.
The inquiry's key call for a criminal investigation into whether flood engineers concocted their report as part of a cover-up was dealt with in August.
The Crime and Misconduct Commission concluded it would be "oppressive" to prosecute the engineers as there were other possible explanations for their actions.
Keith Carnell, a Basin Pocket resident who became a spokesman for flood victims in the Ipswich area, said it was disgraceful that recommendations had not been implemented.
"They spent millions of dollars to have all these smart people tell them what they needed to do and they sit on their hands and do nothing," he said.
"The government is there to protect its citizens. They just don't learn from their mistakes. Nothing's changed."
Residents were nervous about the current high dam levels and feared a repeat of the 2011 floods, he said.
Many are still exposed to flood because they couldn't afford higher insurance premiums for cover.
"If it happens again, all hell is going to break loose," he said.
Mid-Brisbane River Irrigators chairman Tom Wilkinson is not impressed by the Government's response to the inquiry's findings and feels no safer today.
"It could happen again tomorrow," he said.
"When it comes to dam management, I think we are worse off than we were two years ago.
"The manual has not changed for the better."
The dam management strategy was still about "choking back water" not to flood anyone, and allowing for decision-making latitude, rather than having firm actions established ahead of time.
Dam operators don't think they managed the dam poorly in 2011 and all the changes are meant to legitimise what happened then.
"They can't point to anything they would do differently." he said, noting that makes people in the shadow of the dam very nervous.
"All we are after is some tangible difference in how they will manage it," he said.
Water Minister Mark McArdle was unavailable.
Acting water minister Andrew Cripps said implementation of the recommendations was "on track".
"Complex recommendations, such as the long-term review of the flood mitigation manuals, have always been expected to take a number of years to ensure they are properly completed," he said.
Preliminary amendments had been made to the manuals "to address inconsistencies".
It emerged last night that deputy flood commissioner Phil Cummins has slammed the running of the inquiry and complained he and fellow commissioner, former police chief, Jim O'Sullivan, had little input into its final report.
Mr Cummins was removed from the inquiry after The Courier-Mail revealed he was working for a firm hired by Seqwater to revise the Wivenhoe Dam manual.
The inquiry had been "a terrible system of inquiring into anything", Channel 7 reported him as telling an industry conference in October.
Unfinished business
What has happened with the inquiry recommendations?
Done
* A new compatible flood studies database created
* Revised development code rules for building in flood hazard areas
* A CMC investigation into the dam operators for possible crimes or misconduct (a retired judge recommended taking no action)
* Approved a ``single point tasking'' system for emergency helicopters
* Asked rail operators to improve facilities to guard against flooding
* Risk assessment inspections of 20 mine sites
* Meet the quota for swiftwater rescue technicians in the Fire and Rescue Service and investigated inflatable work platforms
Not yet done
* Fully revise operations manual for Wivenhoe and Somerset dams including an independent assessment
* Investigate upgrading of Brisbane River crossings between Wivenhoe Dam and Colleges Crossing
* Consider implementing a system to warn prospective purchasers of property of flood risk
* Resolve the discrepancy in recorded peak river height for the January 2011 flood of the Brisbane River between the Brisbane City and Port Office gauges
* Seqwater to ensure proper support and oversight mechanisms are in place to ensure the recollections of flood engineers and other parties are recorded immediately after the event
* Determine which agency should take responsibility for the management of all existing and new abandoned mine sites
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8.1.13
