Galaxy: 59-41 to LNP in Queensland

140 thoughts on “Galaxy: 59-41 to LNP in Queensland”

1. Lawyers have dustup:

   Maurice Blackburn produced for the inquiry tapes of the interviews supporting their case.

   They have now requested an apology.

   “Given that you have seen fit to make public your ill-founded allegation of impropriety on the part of this firm … we now invite you to likewise, publicly retract that allegation,” principal Damian Scattini wrote.

   “Your apology would probably be in order but we will leave that to your sense of professional courtesy.”

   Just seconds before the inquiry wrapped up for the day Brian O’Donnell, QC, for Seqwater, said after listening to the tapes the organisation “withdraws the allegations”.

   Justice Holmes said: “It sounds as though there is nothing in it.”

   http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/seqwater-drops-dirty-tricks-allegations-20120208-1repw.html

2. The female vote in Ashgrove:

   CAMPBELL Newman has turned to prominent women from the Liberals and the LNP to sell himself to the voters of Ashgrove.

   A personally addressed letter was this week issued to Ashgrove residents by federal MPs Jane Prentice and Teresa Gambaro and Brisbane councillor Geraldine Knapp.

   The decision to turn to elected LNP women known in the area will spark speculation Mr Newman is struggling to attract female voters away from the popular Labor incumbent Kate Jones.

   In the letter, the trio of LNP women sing Mr Newman’s praises, including his former life in the army and achievements as Brisbane’s lord mayor.

   “That is why we are asking you to think about your fellow Queenslanders when you cast your vote,” it says.

   The letter will be a hit to the campaign budget bottom line with state candidates restricted to spending $50,000 on themselves in each electorate.

   http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/newman-gets-top-women-to-sing-praises/story-fnbt5t29-1226266190157

3. ReachTEL poll in Ashgrove:

   The latest poll of voter intentions in Ashgrove has shown little change since December, with LNP leader-in-waiting Campbell Newman maintaining a strong lead over Labor incumbent Kate Jones.

   ReachTEL polled almost 600 residents over the phone on Wednesday night, with more than half of the respondents declaring they would give Mr Newman their first preference vote.

   Ms Jones is languishing 12 percentage points behind with 38 per cent of the primary vote, while Greens candidate Dr Sandra Bayley remains at around 6 per cent.

   The biggest change has been for Katter’s Australian Party; despite not yet announcing who their candidate for the seat will be, the new party is on track for 4.4 per cent of the primary vote, up from 1.7 per cent in December.

   In a two-party preferred vote, Campbell Newman is leading Kate by almost 10 percentage points.

   http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/west/newman-maintains-his-lead-in-ashgrove/story-fn8m0u4y-1226242471821

4. Opposition Leader Seeney could struggle to beat Katter Party in Callide:

   And Dr Williams threw in a “wild card”, suggesting senior LNP figure Jeff Seeney could struggle to beat off a challenge from the Australia Party candidate Steve Ensby in Callide.

   Scott Prasser, a specialist in public policy from the Australian Catholic University, said the minor party had the potential to win three to five seats.

   “[But

   fears that the Katter Australian Party might repeat the One Nation Party’s 1998 electoral success when it gained 25 per cent of the vote, are an exaggeration,” Professor Prasser wrote in a Democratic Audit discussion paper on the upcoming state election

   The next fortnight might be significant, University of Queensland’s Ian Ward said when asked about the minor party’s chances.

   “I think at this stage there isn’t enough polling or similar evidence to be confident that they will make a significant impact at the next election,” Dr Ward said.

   “But we should not dismiss the lessons of 1998 where suddenly and unexpectedly One Nation emerged to win 11 seats.

   “So how the campaign plays out in the next week or two may be significant.”]

   Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/state-election-2012/katter-is-no-one-nation-say-pundits-20120208-1rfbb.html#ixzz1lp486i85

5. 60 wowsers:

   “I want to say that I’m not a wowser; I actually want Brisbane and Queensland to be a vibrant 24-hour place and I don’t think ultimately the answer’s about plastic cups and actually curtailing trading hours,” he told more than 60 attendees at the event organised by the Australian Christian Lobby.

   Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/state-election-2012/im-not-a-wowser-newman-tells-christians-20120208-1rfe3.html#ixzz1lpEhiwln

6. 104

   If Newman was defeated in Ashgrove and Seeney was defeated in Callide who would be LNP Leader?

7. Today’s Flood Commission of Inquiry Transcript. The Commission will set tomorrow (Saturday), Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

   http://www.floodcommission.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/11521/2012-02-09-QFCI-Day-66-Brisbane.pdf

8. Home away from Home by Channel seven’s State Political reporter:

   There’s no place like home…

   Especially when it comes to election candidates.

   Enter the LNP’s contender for Beaudesert, 30-year old solicitor, Jon Krause.

   This morning the LNP’s Ashgrove candidate Campbell Newman headed down to open Mr Krause’s campaign office.

   Afterwards Mr Newman was asked if the candidate’s home was in the electorate.

   Newman: “Well Mr Karause’s home is in Boonah and he’s got a long association with this area and indeed regional south-east Queensland.”

   Reporter: “Is that Mr Karause’s home or is that where he is registered at his in-laws property?”

   Newman: “That’s his home so that’s what matters, I’m sure, to the electors of the Beaudesert electorate.”

   Reporter: “How long has he lived there?”

   Newman: “I think it’s since 2007 actually from memory. Yeah. Yeah.”

   An hour later Mr Krause confirmed that he had, in fact, lived overseas between 2006 and 2010.

   A check of the electoral roll bears that out.

   02/02/2006 – Enrolled Marburg Q 4346

   17/05/2010 – Enrolled Indooroopilly Q 4068

   24/03/2011 – Enrolled Taringa Q 4068

   01/10/2010 – Preselected for LNP

   19/10/2011 – Enrolled Frenches Creek Q 4310

   Mr Krause insists he and his family now live in a cottage on his in-laws property outside Boonah and that he only uses his Indooroopilly flat for when work keeps him in Brisbane overnight.

   http://au.news.yahoo.com/opinion/post/-/blog/patrickcondren/post/124/comment/1

9. Newman spoke a lot and said nothing:

   http://twitter.com/#!/Janeisawake/status/167377316211724289/photo/1

10. Kelly HigginsDevine interviews Lord Mayor Quirk and local councillor Nicole Johnston on Mirvac deal at Budget time last year. A good performance from Nicole Johnston who cuts through the normal political conserativism of local ABC in Brisbane.

    06 June 2011 , 5:51 PM by Simon Scoble

    Brisbane City Council is to spend $12 million to buy back riverfront land from a developer.

    The Lord Mayor, Graham Quirk, says money has been set aside in this week’s budget to purchase the site at Tennyson from Mirvac.

    He claims it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to secure prime real estate and turn it into parkland for the people of Brisbane.

    Hear from the Lord Mayor and local independent councillor for the Tennyson ward Nicole Johnston, here:

    http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2011/06/questions-over-tennyson-land-buyback.html?site=brisbane&program=612_drive#

11. The Mirvac Flood Commission transcript:

    http://www.floodcommission.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/10061/2011-10-06-QFCI-Day-43-Brisbane.pdf

12. Kate Jones pulls closer to Campbell Newman in Ashgrove
    Submitted by ReachTEL on Thu, 09/02/2012 – 21:04
    in

    Voice
    market research
    political polling
    queensland
    voice broadcast

    Last night we updated our Ashgrove poll with a sample of 616 residents in the Ashgrove electorate. After a slow Christmas and New Year period things are back in full swing with the battle for Ashgrove getting even closer.

    The results from two additional questions will be released on the Queensland edition of the 7.30 Report tonight, 10th February 2012 on the ABC. We will update this post once the piece goes to air.

    The polling was conducted using our fully automated voice broadcast market research capabilities. This gives us the ability to have audited research results back in our customer’s hands in literally hours instead of days or even weeks.

    The battle for Ashgrove:

    Key findings:

    Campbell Newman’s primary vote falls below 50% for the first time in this poll series.

    Kate Jones picks up 3.4 percentage points in the primary vote since early January.

    The forced choice question has both candidates neck-and-neck with Campbell Newman ahead slightly with a 1% margin over Kate Jones.

    http://www.reachtel.com.au/blog/kate-jones-reduces-campbell-newmans-lead-in-ashgrove

13. AndrewFraserMP Andrew Fraser
    Since sept Kate primary vote up 6% Newman vote down 5.6%, gap closed by nearly 12%. 2pp gap now just 2% #wakeupjeff
    50 minutes ago

14. Centrebet latest odds:

    Ashgrove Electorate – Winning Candidate
    NEWMAN, Campbell (LNP) 1.18
    JONES, Kate (Labor) 4.35
    ANY OTHER CANDIDATE 21.00

15. Dangerman_2 Col Smith
    @
    @jackpiggott The question then is how much has @reachtel underestimated the Greens and will those votes exhaust? #qldpol #qldvotes
    42 seconds ago

16. danielhurstbne Daniel Hurst
    @
    @Dangerman_2 @jackpiggott When GRN c’date excluded in ’09, ALP got 1954 (51.4%) of his 3801 votes, LNP 568 (14.9%), & 1279 (33.6%) exhausted
    14 minutes ago

17. Candidates for the Queensland election in a final photoshoot.

    http://twitter.com/#!/tomforbes72/status/167108012375412738/photo/1

18. A fiery bunfight has broken out over water policy between the Greens and the LNP in Noosa.

    “If The Greens are opposing our four-point water plan, then they are opposing lower water prices for Queensland families.”

    Mr Dickson said the LNP’s four-point water plan included:

    o Amalgamating the four bulk water entities into one entity to reduce the cost of supplying water;

    o Handing-back control of water to councils who previously did a far better job of managing water resources than the Bligh Government;

    o Writing-off non-performing water grid assets to reduce sharp price rises; and

    o Adopting a 40-year price path to repay the Bligh Government’s $7 billion water grid debt over the economic life of the assets, which will also reduce the cost of water.

    Mr McDonald hit back, saying the intention to create a monopoly corporation controlling all of Queensland’s water came out of the LNP’s own policy.

    “Secondly, I stated that amalgamating the water corporations that had wrenched control of water from the councils would make it “easier to sell off” all water assets.

    “Is Mr Dickson suggesting that a single body would not be easier to sell off?

    “Third, if the bulk water corporations were sold off either as separate entities or a monopoly, it is inconceivable that Unity Water would not also be sold.”

    “Until Mr Dickson, Mr Elmes and the LNP come clean with their intentions regarding the sale of State assets and the return of Noosa’s water assets to a reconstituted Noosa Council, they have no basis upon which to accuse anyone of misleading the electorate.”

    LNP leader Campbell Newman told newspaper editors in Maroochydore this week there would be no privatisation of assets without it first going to an election.

    http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2012/02/09/no-plan-flog-unitywater-lnp/

19. Cairns Pink Vote Forum:

    CIVIL unions, same sex adoption and suicide were among several hot button issues raised at a special community forum last night, with state and local government candidates grilled over a number of topics.
    Organised by the Queensland Association for Healthy Communities and Cairns Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Alliance, The Pink Vote forum gave locals an opporunity to raise a number of issues affecting the local LGBTI community.
    Debate was passionate at times, particularly when it came to the issue of civil unions with the LNP vowing to repeal same-sex civil union laws if elected.
    ”Let`s have no more of this nonsense and a bob each way saying ‘I support civil partnerships but we’re going to repeal the legislation if we get into government’,” Labor Member for Barron River Steve Wettenhall argued.
    LNP candidate for Cairns Gavin King countered that it was a Liberal state government that first introduced anti-discrimination laws in 1997 and any civil unions already granted would be upheld by an LNP government.

    http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2012/02/10/204941_local-news.html

20. Townsville infrastructure:

    STATE and local politicians have backed a plan to build a combined entertainment centre and football stadium in Townsville’s CBD.

    The proposal, revealed in yesterday’s Bulletin, would ensure both the Crocodiles and the Cowboys have access to a super facility in the city.

    Local Government Minister Paul Lucas said combining two facilities made “much better sense”.

    “I was always very concerned about the practicalities of having a separate convention centre,” he said.

    Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser said the State Government would evaluate the proposal as part of a feasibility study into Townsville’s need for a new football stadium and entertainment centre.

    Mayoral hopefuls Cr Dale Last, Cr Jenny Hill and Jeff Jimmieson all backed the project as long as it did not cost ratepayers.

    http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/article/2012/02/10/304631_news.html

21. Syphilis numbers rise in North West Queensland:

    RISE in syphilis cases in the North West has sparked a warning by health authorities to use condoms and have regular sexual health checks.

    So far this year, to February 9, five cases have been reported in the Mount Isa Health Service District.

    In 2011 there were 84 cases, which was a massive leap from the 16 cases in 2010 and the two cases in 2009.

    Sexual Health Services staff specialist Dr Arun Menon said an education and information campaign was being undertaken in North West communities to raise awareness and encourage young people to have regular testing for syphilis and other sexually transmissible infections.

    “There will be more people walking around who don’t know they have syphilis, so we must tackle the problem to limit further spread,” Dr Menon said.

    He said syphilis is a curable sexually transmissible infection (STI), and additional clinical staff had been deployed in the district to help identify and treat cases and trace sexual partners of people with syphilis.

    http://www.northweststar.com.au/news/local/news/general/rise-in-syphilis-cases-has-health-experts-worried/2450730.aspx

22. Housing plan for Moranbah:

    “Ultimately, we can’t make people live in those coal mining towns but we can certainly make it attractive for them to live there. We can certainly provide the land for them to live there,” he said.

    Moranbah’s urban footprint could not be expanded because it was surrounded by mining leases, Mr Lucas said.

    “We would have liked to expand it more in Moranbah but the last thing you want to do – and we know this from other places – is put housing next door to a mining lease.

    “That wouldn’t be fair to those people living there,” he said.

    However, Cr Ferguson said there was still room for expansion in Moranbah, with enough residential land for another 2000 homes.

    To view the plan, visit http://www.dlgp.qld.gov.au/miw.

    http://www.dailymercury.com.au/story/2012/02/09/plan-eases-the-squeeze/

23. Solid Queensland Financial figures:

    A NEW report shows that Queensland is leading the nation when it comes to business confidence.

    The NAB Quarterly Business Survey, released today, shows Queensland’s confidence over the December Quarter was at 12 points, well ahead of any other state or territory with South Australia the next best on 2 points.

    Deputy Premier and Treasurer Andrew Fraser said the report was one more in a long line of recent good news for the Queensland economy.

    “The index shows that confidence in our state is ahead all other states which is great news for Queensland,” Mr Fraser said.

    http://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/story/2012/02/10/qld-leading-business-confidence-australia/

24. Social media and political campaign:

    “The emergence of social media is a new phenomenon for all political parties,” Mr McVeigh said.

    “Anyone using Facebook certainly needs to be mindful of what they post or what is available on their page,” he added.

    Member for Toowoomba North Kerry Shine said social media had allowed him to reach a totally new audience.

    “When I first ran for parliament in 1998 there was no such thing as social media,” Mr Shine said.

    “I am not a young person anymore but Facebook has certainly allowed me to get my message across to a younger demographic,” he said.

    These sentiments were echoed by the LNP candidate for Toowoomba North Trevor Watts.

    “It is a useful tool for me as I can communicate with members of the community and volunteers,” he said.

    “The more ways we can engage the community are obviously better for all.”

    Meanwhile, Bob Katter’s Australian Party candidate for Toowoomba North, Peter Pyke, recalled his first election campaign.

    “This is the first election campaign I have been involved with where social media has been a powerful and effective communication tool,” Mr Pyke said.

    “I remember in my first campaign I had a mobile phone that was the size of a house.

    “Nowadays you can run a small country with a smart phone. Things certainly have changed,” he said.

    http://www.frasercoastchronicle.com.au/story/2012/02/10/candidate-shares-naked-truth/

25. South West towns still struggling with effects of floods:

    POLICE say it is unlikely St George residents will be allowed to return home before the weekend while the town’s sewerage system remains inoperable.

    Road blocks will prevent close to 2500 of the town’s evacuated residents from returning until it is deemed safe.

    In Mitchell, the bridge to town has been re-opened to restricted traffic, meaning residents can finally begin the clean-up in earnest.

    Mitchell News and Casket re-opened its doors for the first time yesterday after a foot of floodwater entered the shop.

    “Only four businesses are back open – us, Foodworks, the Mini Mart and the BP service station,” employee Monique Light said.

    Further south, Dirranbandi business owners are bracing themselves for a month of isolation and limited trade.

    http://www.thechronicle.com.au/story/2012/02/10/wait-goes-on-for-residents-st-george-floods/

26. Oh Dear! More pious LNP windbagging, LORA NORA BOOGEYMAN UNLEASHED:

    Bligh Labor has systematically failed to keep proper checks on thousands of paedophiles with at least 140 dangerous offenders who had been freed on parole arrested for committing further sex crimes against children in the past six years.

    Shadow Minister for Police and Corrective Services John-Paul Langbroek said under long-term Labor’s weak sentencing laws and the government’s lax monitoring system there’d been an astounding 2084 breaches of parole conditions by paedophiles in the same period.

    “The numbers are absolutely frightening,” Mr Langbroek said.

    “These statistics prove that this lazy, long-term Labor government cares less about protecting Queensland children from sexual molestation than it does about the freedoms of these offenders.”

    Mr Langbroek said the parents and the wider community had every right to be outraged.

    “Police are snowed under trying to deal with the overwhelming numbers of parole breaches by paedophiles.

    “Labor’s laws are so lax – there’s no compulsion for paedophiles and other dangerous sexual offenders to complete proper rehabilitation before being granted parole.

    “Official government figures show there’s now more than 4000 persons in Queensland on the National Child Offender Register – the highest for any state – and growing at 600 a year.

    “You have to ask – are these people attracted to Queensland because they know our state laws are so lax?” Mr Langbroek said.

    http://www.jplangbroek.com/pages/mr-090212.php

27. Katter on ABC radio this morning:

    Federal Independent MP Bob Katter wants his new party to win about 34 per cent of votes at the upcoming Queensland election.

    He predicts his Katter’s Australian Party will outdo Pauline Hanson’s One Nation at the 1998 state election.

    One Nation had polled five per cent in opinion polls ahead of that election, but went on to win 23 per cent of the vote and 11 seats, Mr Katter said.

    Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/state-election-2012/we-want-34-per-cent-katter-20120210-1sbv1.html#ixzz1lw7v3sYs

28. couriermail couriermail.com.au
    Mr Babister agrees flooding “inevitable”. Says some weather events simply beyond capacity of flood mitigating dams. #floodinq
    59 minutes ago

29. Antony Green on Ashgrove poll.

    http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/2012/02/how-should-reachtels-ashgrove-polls-be-interpreted.html

30. Brisbane still suffering from Newman’s dodgy financial credentials:

    “By advising our manual top-up payments customers of the automatic top-up payment option, we believe it will help to simplify their travel on Queensland toll roads.”

    The two free trips being offered as a sweetener to the switch are worth $7.90 and can only be used by cars, not other classes of vehicle.

    RiverCity Motorway refused to say how many FLOW accounts exist or how many are in the negative.

    The company remains in receivership with debts of $1.3 billion, with administrators so far unable to find a buyer for the unpopular tollway.

    In the last week, an average of 22,000 vehicles a day used the Clem7 Tunnel which has now been open for nearly two years.

    It was originally forecast to carry more than 90,000 vehicles a day within six months of operation although that figure was revised down to 40,000 vehicles by 2020 shortly after it opened.

    http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/free-clem7-tunnel-trips-for-motorists-with-automatic-debit-on-credit-cards/story-e6freoof-1226268006005?from=public_rss

31. TheQldPremier Premier Anna Bligh
    by Dangerman_2
    St George evacuation order has been lifted & residents can now safely return home
    2 hours ago

32. Today’s Floods Commission of Inquiry transcript:

    http://www.floodcommission.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/11541/2012-02-10-QFCI-Day-67-Brisbane.pdf

33. Guy Fawkes would be proud of the plan and dedication to the cause.

    http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/state-election-2012/no-plan-b-we-dont-get-another-shot-at-this-its-all-or-nothing-20120210-1sn89.html

34. It will be interesting to learn on what basis the Candidate for Ashrove believes that if he does not win Ashgrove the LNP can not win the election in Queensland. There has never been any evidence to support such a claim. In fact the state may well be better off if Ashgrove was to be won by anybody else.

    The LNP leader and his deputy, Jeff Seeney, yesterday repeatedly parroted prepared lines when questioned on the scenario after a poll showed Labor incumbent Kate Jones was gaining ground.

    The party is desperate to avoid a repeat of the 2006 campaign which was all but derailed on the first day over confusion about who would be leader if the Liberal Party won more seats than the Nationals.

    In a bid to deflect the issue, Mr Newman repeatedly claimed the LNP would not win government if he did not win Ashgrove.

    “We won’t win this election if we don’t win Ashgrove and seats like Ashgrove. It is as simple as that,” he said.

    However, the LNP can win without Ashgrove, with the party requiring a 4.6 per cent swing to gain government while a 7.1 per cent swing is required to win the inner-Brisbane seat.

    http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/newman-cagey-on-leadership-options/story-fnbt5t29-1226268282240

35. The Nightmare of Premier Seeney.

    AN odd thing happened yesterday.

    The mind-numbingly long election campaign you have when you don’t have a campaign started to get more interesting.

    Well, at least, a little less boring.

    While Premier Anna Bligh and Campbell Newman have been extreme campaigning around the state, chasing each other through flooded disaster zones, pursued by camera crews like some sort of Amazing Race where the biggest challenge is no hot water for tea on their private planes, the rest of us have just been getting on with it.

    But a ReachTEL poll suddenly raised the nightmare scenario which has had the Liberal National Party covering their collective ears and singing `la la la’ as they pretend the scary bit could just not happen to them again.

    http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2012/02/11/389741_sue-lappeman-opinion.html

36. MP money making scheme upsets neighbours:

    A GOLD Coast State MP is being paid by Telstra to have a controversial mobile phone tower on his yard less than 20m away from his neighbours’ fence.

    It has infuriated the Kingsholme resident Matt McLachlan, who says Coomera MP Michael Crandon, Telstra and the Gold Coast City Council never consulted neighbours about the tower’s construction.

    But Mr Crandon said he had approval from his former neighbour, who later sold the Hidden Ct property to the McLachlans.

    Telstra first approached Mr Crandon five years ago asking if they could build the tower on his land.

    http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2012/02/11/389941_gold-coast-queensland-state-election.html

37. Professor Performance Poet Porkies:

    He said he could have chosen a safer seat but he chose Ashgrove because that is ‘‘where he lives.’’

    http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/state-election-2012/labor-will-lose-every-seat-palmer-20120211-1sy0b.html#ixzz1m2Cpdv6o

38. Now the Chief LNP cheerleader is claiming to be privy to internal party polling.

    madonnamking Madonna King
    by DesHoughton
    @SmartState1 @billmcdonald1 Internal party polling puts Ashgrove safer for the LNP: about 53 to 47 #qldvotes
    2 hours ago

39. Today’s Floods Commission of Inquiry transcript and closing statement from the Commissioner Cate Holmes.

    COMMISSIONER: All right. Well, there being no objection,
    those are my directions then.
    I do want to make a closing statement. I’m sorry to hold you
    up a bit longer but it won’t be too long.
    I want to make some points before closing the hearing. I have
    heard the suggestion made – I don’t know how seriously or with
    what motivation – that because it’s been necessary for the
    Commission to reconvene and re-examine the question of dam
    strategies, anything the Commission says about anything is now
    in doubt.
    In response, I invite the public at large, really, and the
    media also, to look at what the Commission has actually been
    doing. Take a look at the interim report and read the
    recommendations it produced, many of which are well and truly
    in place. There is increased swift water rescue personnel and
    equipment and training; warning systems for rising waterways;
    disaster management group organisation; how the evacuation
    centres are set up and managed and made known to the public;
    and, on this very topic of dams, there was a recommendation
    for a lowering of the Wivenhoe level to 75 percent, which is
    likely to have preserved the piece of mind of a lot of people
    over the January rain, and another for a complete overall of
    the Flood Mitigation Manual based on up-to-date science. They
    are just a few examples.

    The Commission, since the delivery of the interim report, has
    been dealing with insurance and land planning and the second
    of those topics, in particular, is a large and fundamental
    one. The Commission has devoted a large amount of its time to
    reviewing land planning laws, policies, instruments and
    practices, to work out how the prospect of flooding can be
    dealt with in land planning in Queensland. It was a massive
    task. It would be very foolish to disregard all of that
    though.
    When this Commission was set up, it was not intended as a
    means of conducting forensic investigations into whether all
    those connected with the flood response were telling the truth
    and had given consistent accounts of their actions. The focus
    a year ago was on whether the dam operators had let out enough
    water when they were operating under the W3 strategy; whether
    they had moved to W4 early enough and whether they had taken
    forecast rainfall into account in the process, not whether
    they had been in those strategies at all at the time they said
    they were. That, of course, has emerged as the issue here.
    And this, of course, was not just – and I refer to the
    Commission’s work and terms of reference – this was not just
    an inquiry about dam operation. There are six other terms of
    reference, all just as important. If the Commission had set
    about reviewing all available documentation to check that
    everything everyone had said on oath before it on important
    topics was consistent with anything else that could be found
    in the thousands of documents before the Commission, there
    would’ve gone most of the time allotted, most of the year
    allotted for the Commission. This was not a Fitzgerald
    Inquiry.
    Make no mistake, I do not warrant that the Commission has
    checked that all of what Emergency Management Queensland, the
    SES, the Police, the Bureau of Meteorology, DERM, each of the
    Councils throughout Queensland, or anyone else has told the
    Commission is true and correct, particularly not where it has
    been the subject of sworn evidence.
    This Commission was set up to look to how things are managed
    for the future, which is a sensible approach. My task, as set
    out in the terms of reference, was not to search out culprits
    but to make recommendations to improve preparation and
    planning for flood threats, emergency response, and any
    changes to legislation to better protect life and property in
    natural disasters. That’s what we have been spending our time
    on. It’s a rational application of resources.
    That’s not to say I’m not grateful for the work put in by
    Mr Thomas and any individual who may have assisted him in
    identifying the questions which were explored in the last ten
    days or so. They are fundamental. They have to be resolved
    for the very reason that a Commission like this, reporting in
    the timeframes it has to observe, must be able to rely on what
    is said to it on oath. It goes to the heart of how
    commissions function if that reliance can’t be placed on sworn
    evidence. That’s the very question to be determined here and
    I have yet to resolve it. But it would be a tragedy if the
    focus on this discrete set of issues led people to lose sight
    of the rest of the work of the Commission because that may
    mean that things which are designed to improve the safety of
    lives and property of people in Queensland are pushed aside.
    Thank you for your time. We will adjourn, subject to the
    matter of whether we need to resume to consider any objections
    to evidence, thank you.
    THE COMMISSION ADJOURNED AT 4.51 P.M.

    http://www.floodcommission.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/11542/2012-02-11-QFCI-Day-68-Brisbane.pdf

40. The interim report of the Flood Commission of Inquiry is here:

    http://apo.org.au/research/queensland-floods-commission-inquiry-interim-report

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