Whiff of a cover-up changes politics

Nicholson cartoon

ANNA Bligh must have had a sinking feeling yesterday when flood commissioner Cate Holmes asked for a meeting.

At the time, the Labor Premier was holed up in her George Street office going over the detail of her strategy to defeat Campbell Newman at the election she is due to call any day.

There have been few surprises in recent months, and despite successive polls pointing to a landslide defeat for Labor, Bligh could still plausibly hold out hope of besting the former Brisbane lord mayor in the campaign.

The rain has been pouring for days, and Bligh who posted a record rebound in the polls after her leadership during last year's flood crisis could be forgiven for thinking the latest deluge might give voters second thoughts about dumping her.

Ever since the swamping of Brisbane, and despite lingering questions about the operation of the state-run Wivenhoe Dam, the politics of the flood have been largely benign.

Now there is the whiff of a cover-up of a monumental failure in the dam's management, which compounded the flooding that hit thousands of homes in Brisbane last January and was linked to one death.

For two decades, Labor has built an electoral fortress around Brisbane, and it goes into the election holding 20 of the 24 seats in the city.

It was why Newman, after seven years at city hall and equally lauded for his performance during the floods, was recruited to lead the LNP from outside parliament.

As the reconvened inquiry hearings unfold next month, voters will be reminded of the fear and loss the flood caused and that the trauma continues, for some Brisbane residents, to this day.