Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry: interim report

• Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry

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Image: Jono Haysom / flickr

02 August 2011The floods of December 2010 and January 2011 strained the resources of a state more used to coping with drought than flood. Their consequences were shocking; no-one could have believed that people could be swept by a torrent from their homes and killed, as they were in Grantham; that nine motorists could be drowned in the attempt to negotiate floodwaters; that some towns could be completely isolated for weeks, or that every last citizen of others would have to be evacuated; that residents of cities like Ipswich and Brisbane could lose everything they owned in waters which wrecked thousands of homes.

On 17 January 2011, the Queensland Government established the Commission of Inquiry into the 2010/2011 flood events. The terms of reference are extensive: as Commissioner, Justice Catherine Holmes is to inquire (in summary) into the preparation and planning for the flooding by governments at all levels, emergency services and the community; the supply of essential services during the floods; the adequacy of forecasts and early warning systems, with particular reference to Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley; compliance with, and the suitability of, dam operational procedures for safety and flood mitigation; land use planning to minimise flood damages; and the performance of insurers in meeting their claims responsibilities.

The Commissions of Inquiry order under which the Commission was established requires the provision of an interim report – this report – by 1 August 2011 on matters associated with flood preparedness, to enable early recommendations to be implemented before next summer’s wet season. This report endeavours to make recommendations which can be put into effect in time to provide some safeguards should flooding recur this summer. It also deals, particularly where dam operations are concerned, with work which cannot be completed by summer, but the commencement of which is so important that it should not be delayed until the Commission’s final report is provided.

This report does not deal with the questions of insurance and land use planning, because they are not matters which lend themselves to useful recommendations for the next wet season. They will instead be the subject of the Commission’s next round of hearings, in September and October 2011. Those hearings will also return to and further explore some aspects of the terms of reference dealt with in this report.

The Commission was directed by the Commissions of Inquiry order to ‘take into account the regional and geographic differences across affected communities’ and to ‘seek public submissions and hold public hearings in affected communities’. The Deputies and I have done our best to meet those obligations, holding meetings in towns from Grantham to Jericho and public hearings in centres from Rockhampton to St George. We will continue that pattern over the time left for our inquiries.

Six and a half months is not very long to set up a Commission, receive submissions, identify issues, assemble evidence, hold hearings and produce a report. That it has been possible is a credit to the Commission’s energetic and dedicated staff. The report strives to be practical, rather than descriptive; we have not dwelt on the tragedies suffered, because the most helpful thing we can do is to make suggestions to guard against their repetition.

Photo: Jono Haysom / flickr