Deryck Thompson makes formal complaint against Education Qld

Education Queensland has been labelled “callous” and “wasteful” in the wake of the flood emergency after victims were denied access to Machans Beach State School facilities - but the Department says it was putting the health and safety of the public first.

Trucks collect dumped school items at Machans Beach State School. Picture: Supplied

Education Queensland has been labelled “callous” and “wasteful” in the wake of a flood emergency after victims were denied access to Machans Beach State School facilities and undamaged items were dumped.

A formal complaint has been made against Education Queensland by Machans Beach resident Deryck Thompson following the one-in hundred flood event that inundated large parts of the seaside Cairns suburb in mid-December.

But the department has hit back, saying the school suffered significant water damage following the flooding rains brought by Ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper had safety assessments had to be conducted prior to letting anyone onto the school site.

Tracy Walker with Tyler and Roman Archer evacuated to the Machans Beach Community Hall after their house was inundated by flood water.

The night the Barron River broke its banks on December 17 the community of Machans Beach became cut off by floodwater.

The suburb had no electricity for 48 hours and much longer for houses that had been inundated after tonnes of river mud washed through an estimated 150 houses.

On the night of the flood more than 50 people with nowhere else to go huddled into the Machans Beach Hall on Tucker St.

A makeshift emergency shelter has been set up at the Machans Beach hall.

Mr Thompson claims Education Queensland officials were approached with a proposal to set up a recovery hub at the Machans Beach School under cover sports area.

But the request was denied.

It took lobbying of Cairns Mayor Terry James, Barron River MP Craig Crawford and almost a week before access was finally granted and non-food items were stored at the sports area from December 24.

Machans Beach resident Deryck Thompson.

“We had just experienced a very serious natural disaster and it should not have been necessary for us to go begging to visiting politicians to gain access to the school undercover sports area to store our community recovery materials,” Mr Thompson stated in his written complaint.

A mountain of school supplies including some items Mr Thompson claims were not water damaged were piled up ready for landfill and removed from school grounds on December 4 and 5.

Student chairs stacked in preparation for dumping following a December 2023 flooding at Machans Beach State School. Picture: Supplied

Mr Thompson said following contact with an Education Queensland employee, some plastic chairs and the microwave from the tuckshop that remained dry had been spared from being dumped and would be set side for cleaning.

“I am very unhappy about the unhelpful attitude of Education Queensland,” he said.

“We watched while usable items of furniture (such as) shelving, chairs, desks, metal storage cupboards etc were crushed when they could have been offered to residents who had lost all their furniture.

“This action by Education Queensland was not only a waste of taxpayer funded assets, but also makes a mockery of government (policy) trying to be environmentally sustainable.

The Barron River reached a record flood peak after heavy rain bought by ex Tropical Cyclone Jasper which made landfall on December 13. Picture: Brendan Radke

“Overall, (Education Queensland) showed callous disregard for our flood impacted community and it should make an apology to residents of Machans Beach.”

A Department of Education spokesman said the health and safety of students, staff, volunters, ntractors and visitors at Queensland state schools was the department’s highest priority.

“The school’s undercover sports area was initially assessed for safety on December 19 and, due to water ingress to the tuckshop and sports store area, was deemed not to be safe until an electrical inspection of all circuitry was completed,” the spokesman said.

“Once the facility was further inspected, and risks to health and safety were appropriately controlled, access to the area for the Community Recovery Hub was able to be provided as a collection point for Christmas hampers and other donated items for the community.”

The spokesman said flood-affected school property was either sanitised and reused or disposed of accordingly - the latter of which there was unfortunately a “significant” amount.

“The Department’s Regional Director of Far North Queensland contacted Mr Thompson shortly after Christmas to discuss the concerns raised in his complaint. A formal written response to Mr Thompson is in the process of being finalised.”

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Originally published as Deryck Thompson makes formal complaint against Education Qld