The Queensland Government reviewed its Model Litigant Principles on 12 October 2012.
The Model Litigant Principles can be accessed here.
These Principles which were issued by the Department of Justice and Attorney-General are intended to serve as a binding requirement on the State Government and its agencies in the handling of all litigation.
The introduction to the Principles states:
The Principles go on to state numerous requirements, most-significantly requiring the State and its agencies to ensure they are consistently "dealing with claims promptly and not causing unnecessary delay in the handling of claims and litigation".
Have the Boards of Seqwater and SunWater ever read these binding Principles?
It would appear the answer is a resounding "NO" because of their antics today in the New South Wales Supreme Court to get the Court to unilaterally throw out the class action case against them by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers on behalf of over 4000 Brisbane River flood victims who suffered financially and personally as a result of the January 2011 flood.
The buffoons running these two entities should be abiding by the spirit and letter of these Principles rather than trying to use every legal technicality possible to stop the case proceeding to its ultimate conclusion.
Even the State Government did not fall into the trap of breaching its own Principles.
Seqwater, SunWater and the Queensland Government should be looking for an early settlement of this class action to avoid running up a king's ransom in legal fees to ensure that their morally indefensible stance does not drag on for years at the expense of bona fide claimants who are still hurting badly as a result of the bumbling ineptitude of Seqwater in the lead-up to the 2011 flood.
