Keith Pitt criticises Bundaberg flood levee plan, begs Crisafulli to reconsider

While modelling has revealed the enormous difference a levee would have made in 2013, Bundaberg appears to be moving further away from its support for the $176million proposal, joining the local council and Mayor, and in the wake of a damning speech to parliament by Keith Pitt. Update:

Flood modelling of the 2013 Bundaberg flood show the extent of the water across the city in 2013, and what it would have looked like with a levee in place in 2013.

Federal Hinkler LNP MP Keith Pitt has urged the new state government to reconsider going ahead with a $176 million flood levee on Bundaberg, and urged local residents in a video posted to social media to make their stance on the issue clear.

Mr Pitt has been unapologetically opposed to the levee, claiming in 2023 it would divide the city into the “haves” and “have nots”, and instead advocating for a North Evacuation Route.

A poll of 427 NewsMail readers this week revealed only 27 per cent believed a levee would protect the region, with the vast majority (73 per cent) having little or no faith in a levee.

Comments on Facebook also overwhelming were not in support of moving forward with the levee.

VOTE IN THE POLL HERE

An artist’s impression of the $176million Bundaberg flood levee, which has little support left in the echelons of government.

Bundaberg Mayor Helen Blackburn has publicly withdrawn her support for the levee, and her council has flat out refused to pay for ongoing maintenance if it goes ahead.

The new LNP state government this week cryptically stated it would work “with the council” not against it to deliver flood resilience to Bundaberg.

When Cyclone Oswald drenched South East Queensland with more than 1000mm in four days in January 2013, a record-breaking flood ripped through Bundaberg as the Burnett River peaked at 9.53m.

About 5000 residents were evacuated and more than 1000 rescued by helicopter, which at the time was the largest evacuation effort in peacetime in Australia.

Mr Pitt has repeatedly called for a faster evacuation route for the city’s northern suburbs, which the community identified as a key priority in 2018.

He addressed federal parliament on November 19, 2024, saying:

“I rise to put on the record my concerns about the debacle that is the Bundaberg East flood levee”.

“I wrote to the then minister representing the Minister for Emergency Management in November 2023, asking exactly how much money would be committed to the project from the federal government.

“Now it’s $57 million from them, $57 million from Queensland and $60 million from something called DRFA Efficiencies.

“I don’t know what that means but I will assume it means cuts by the then Qld Labor state government, for a total project cost of almost $175 million.

“Now my concerns with this project have been on the record for a long time and they remain.

“The most current engineering proposal suggests that there will be 365kW pumps - multiple - to lift the water over the wall.

“It will be for around a one-in-100-year flood. It will still be wet on the inside of the wall because the pumps simply can’t be big enough to get all of the water out.

“There will be an impact on the people of North Bundaberg and elsewhere.

“To my great surprise the minister responded by saying there will be no housing resumed as part of the levee project.

“I’m sure that will be great news for those individuals who have houses and businesses on the wet side of the proposed wall. I’m not quite sure how that works.

“So, I want to congratulate Helen Blackburn.

“Mayor Blackburn has said, and her council has said, that the Bundaberg Regional Council will not be utilising ratepayer money to maintain this proposed levee.

New Hervey Bay LNP MP David Lee with Keith Pitt in the lead-up to the 2024 state election.

“That will have to come from somewhere else.

“I think that is a very wise decision.

“There were 5000 residents that signed a petition calling for this project to be reviewed and I would urge the new Crisafulli government to listen to the community, to talk to the engineers, to look at whether this is actually a viable option.

“The figure of $175 million is actually more than we committed to the Hinkler regional deal.

“The people of this region will get a wall which will protect a number of houses, potentially, assuming that it works and the sluice gate closes and there aren’t problems and you can get diesel generators big enough to start 365-kilowatt pumps.

“The priority, in my view, has always been an escape route for the people of North Bundaberg.

“I think that should continue to be the priority.

“There are options to fund that.”

Mr Pitt then went on to congratulate one of his electoral office staff, Paula Harberger, who has left his office to manage the office of new state LNP MP for Hervey Bay, David Lee.

A street survey in the CBD this week revealed some business owners and manager were not even aware of the levee issue.

Of those willing to talk, Kerehi Te-Momo, an East Bundaberg home owner, said he worried about heavy rain, but was “on the fence” about the levee.

He said he accepted most people were against it.

Shop clerk Kym Gentles lives and works near the CBD and says she isn’t worried about the flood levee’s impact on business.

Kym Gentles, said she was not bothered about the levee impact on the CBD where she works at Rockmans.

In the 50 years she’s lived in the area, “it’s never flooded in the main street,” she said.

Originally published as Keith Pitt criticises Bundaberg flood levee plan, begs Crisafulli to reconsider