Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk accused of duplicity over Wivenhoe flood damages payouts

The Queensland government has been accused of privately trying to dodge responsibility and financial damages for the 2011 Wivenhoe flood disaster.

Raging torrent of water being released by Wivenhoe Dam into the Brisbane River after flooding rains in 2011.

The Queensland government has been accused of privately trying to dodge responsibility and financial damages for the 2011 Wivenhoe flood disaster, despite Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk insisting she did not want to prolong the pain for victims.

Some 7000 southeast Queens­land flood victims celebrated late last year after the NSW Supreme Court found state-owned Wivenhoe Dam was managed negligently during the January 2011 floods.

The state of Queensland decided it would not appeal against the judgement, but the state’s dam operators, Seqwater and Sun­Water, said they would challenge the decision, despite the urging of government ministers.

In an interview with The Australian in December, Ms Palas­zczuk said she did not want the plight of dam victims to “drag on” and she understood people needed closure. “I don’t want it to go on any longer unnecessarily,’’ she said. “I think … a lot of people out there want closure as well.’’

However, a letter to claimants from class action solicitors Maurice Blackburn accuses the government of saying one thing publicly and another privately.

“The state has recently indicated that if ­Seqwater and SunWater are successful in their appeals, the state expects to be able to benefit from that outcome,” Maurice Blackburn’s Rebecca Gilsenan said.

“That means if Seqwater and SunWater are successful in their ­appeals, then the state also expects to receive the benefit of this in its responsibility for the flood and the compensation it will pay.

“This position is at odds with the state’s public position in December 2019 when the Premier stated that she did not want to prolong flood victims’ wait for compensation.

“This was followed by the ­Attorney-General announcing that the state government would not be appealing the decision, and a later statement from the relevant shareholding ministers that called on the insurers of Seqwater and SunWater to also not appeal.”

A Queensland government spokesman said: “There are still ongoing mediation matters before the courts in relation to this matter, and the government’s position hasn’t changed.”

The government goes to an election on October 31.

The appeal hearing has now been set down for May 17 next year, a delay that flood victims have described as infuriating and heartbreaking.

Maurice Blackburn’s letter also confirms the law firm increased its retainer rate by 5 per cent from July 1 this year.

“We review our rates annually however we have not made any increase to our rates since March 2015 ... it continues to be the case that you will not have to pay any costs unless and until there is a successful outcome in the proceeding,” Ms Gilsenan wrote.

The Queensland government does not have legal liability insurance to cover potential dam­ages, so any compensation will come from the already ailing budget. Seqwater and SunWater are covered by insurance.

Late last year, NSW Supreme Court judge Robert Beech-Jones found the operation of Wivenhoe Dam was negligent in the lead-up to the ­deluge, with dam operators failing to take into account rainfall forecasts.

This failure contributed to the downstream flooding of parts of Ipswich and Brisbane.