Now it needs a bold premier to make it happen.
The signs aren’t good.
Dominic Perrottet has seemed paralysed in recent months, unable to shake a series of scandals and looking increasingly rattled at every press conference.
The floods inquiry could be his big – perhaps last – chance to turn around the fortunes of a government that looks well past its use-by date.
The report by former NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller and scientist Mary O’Kane provides not only a long overdue blueprint to flood-proof the state but a roadmap for the Premier towards the March state election.
Adopting all of the recommendations of the inquiry was a good start by him.
The bloated Resilience NSW had to go.
There will be few tears over the demise of the blundering behemoth headed by former Rural Fire Service chief Shane Fitzsimmons.
Its gob-smacking budget of $2.1bn over three years was supposed to go largely to grants for flood victims, but there have been precious few of those.
The forlorn Fitzsimmons has been at pains to point out he was not in charge of the response phase of major disaster operations.
That was the role of SES Commissioner Carlene York.
After the damning findings of the Fuller-O’Kane report, she will also be lucky to retain her job.
The report found a string of leadership failures at the SES, many of which reflected unfairly on its heroic volunteers out in the field.
The tougher decisions for Perrottet will come with implementing the recommended buyback program of private property on floodplains, with the cost to taxpayers likely to run into the tens of billions of dollars.
Opening up registration for the scheme by the end of August is a good move.
Next must be a total ban on further building developments on the flood plains.
The government can’t keep falling back on its thwarted push to raise the wall of the Warragamba Dam to mitigate flooding.
The flood report does not give a green light to raise the wall, despite the spin attempted by the government.
In any case, Perrottet has run out of time on that one.
The Premier has been handed a chance for redemption. He needs to seize it.
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The NSW flood inquiry has presented a bold plan to fix the cycle of flood disasters.