Queensland floods: Dam operators eyes appeal against Wivenhoe compensation ruling

Almost 7000 victims of the devastating 2011 floods could be denied compensation despite a landmark ruling.

Water is released from the Wivenhoe Dam into the Brisbane River in 2011. Picture: News Limited

Victims of 2011’s devastating Brisbane and Ipswich floods could be denied compensation after the Queensland government’s dam operators flagged their intention to appeal a landmark class-action victory.

The NSW Supreme Court this month ruled in favour of nearly 7000 flood victims, finding Wivenhoe Dam was managed negligently during the flooding disaster in southeast Queensland.

While the state of Queensland – which employed one of the dam engineers who worked during the floods – revealed last week it would not appeal against the decision, government-owned dam operators Seqwater (which owns Wivenhoe and employed two of the four engineers) and SunWater (which employed one of the engineers) are lodged ‘notice of intention to appeal’ documents on Friday.

Both operators insisted they had not yet made their minds up to appeal, but wanted to reserve their right.

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

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad and Natural Resources Minister Anthony Lynham are the shareholding ministers in Seqwater and SunWater, and they issued a joint statement,

urging the insurers of the two government-owned corporations to rule out an appeal.

However, they distanced themselves from the decisions of the dam operators, insisting that although they were public entities, they were overseen by independent boards and each had its own insurance policy.

Flood victim Frank Beaumont addresses the media after the flood class action announcement last month. Picture: Rob Williams

“The relevant insurance companies now have a legal right to determine their next steps,” the ministerial statement said.

“If a ministerial direction to Seqwater and SunWater to not appeal the court decision could be given, it would not bind their insurers and it may compromise their insurance policies.

“The Queensland government has already announced it will not appeal the NSW Supreme Court decision, and it now calls upon the insurers of Seqwater and SunWater to do the same.”

Seqwater chief executive Neil Brennan said it would lodge a notice of intention to appeal the judgment on Friday, but no formal decision had been made to appeal.

“However, the legal process requires parties to lodge a notice of intent within 28 days of a judgment for any future appeal to be considered,” Mr Brennan said.

“Seqwater is continuing to review the NSW Supreme Court decision and its implications.

“A final decision on whether to appeal will be made ahead of the next court hearing, on February 21, 2020.

“Seqwater will not be making any further comments until its review process is complete.”

A statement from SunWater said it would do the same.

“No formal decision has been made to appeal, and SunWater continues to carefully review the judgment and consider its options,” the statement said.

Maurice Blackburn lawyers, which filed the class action on behalf of the flood victims, said it was “deeply disappointed” at the move by the dam operators.

“We are deeply disappointed for our clients that the injustice they have suffered at the hands of the government and its entities looks set to continue,” Maurice Blackburn principal Rebecca Gilsenan said.

“We continue to call on the state government and its entities to do everything to bring this long running saga to a prompt end.”