QLD:Ipswich mayor wants city flood-proofed

AAP General News (Australia)
08-01-2011
QLD:Ipswich mayor wants city flood-proofed

BRISBANE, August 1 AAP - Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasle hopes Monday's flood inquiry report
can provide some assurance that a natural disaster on that scale can ever happen again.

The Queensland Flood Commission of Inquiry's interim report will make recommendations
on what could be improved in the wake of January's widespread flooding that claimed 35
lives.

Much of the inquiry's hearings focused on the Wivenhoe Dam and how four specialist
engineers managed it.

Mr Pisasle said Ipswich still had not fully recovered from the devastation.

"People have gone through some terrific times over the last few months and we've worked
hard to get back to this position," Mr Pisasle told ABC radio on Monday.

"What we want in this report is that we will never have to go through these hard times again."

Rockhampton mayor Brad Carter said he didn't expect the Capricornia region to figure
prominently in the interim flood report, but hoped two major problems would be covered.

"We need to improve the flood immunity of the Bruce Highway and the flood immunity
of the Rockhampton airport," he told ABC radio.

Premier Anna Bligh says she looked forward to learning some tough lessons out of Monday's
flood inquiry report.

She said on Sunday that she eagerly awaited the document to understand more about what
happened, and what improvements the authorities can make.

"I don't care if it's tough. I want answers," she told reporters.

"I think Queenslanders deserve answers."

Ms Bligh said authorities must ensure they'll be as prepared as possible to responding
to and recover from future natural disasters.

She said she had asked for the report to be released now so that necessary changes
could be made before next summer's wet season.

"I certainly hope that what we see tomorrow is a report that has concrete recommendations
that the government can adopt to make sure that we are safer to make sure that in any
future disasters we are better protected," she said.

The premier said she understood Monday could be a difficult day for victims.

The $15 million inquiry that held 30 days of public hearings in eight locations ended on May 27.

A second round of public hearings, to focus on insurance and land use issues, will
begin in September, ahead of the final report due by February 24, 2012.

The report will be released at 1pm (AEST) on Monday.

AAP dac/crh/it/de

KEYWORD: FLOODS INQUIRY

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