The people of Bundaberg are forever scarred by the terrible events of 2010-11 and 2013 when severe flooding devastated much of the city.
We dodged the rain bomb which hammered many parts of Queensland in recent weeks, but Bundaberg residents live in fear of being flooded again.
There’s a solution to give peace of mind and keep people safe but due to bloody-minded politics and neglect, a thoroughly studied and properly engineered levee remains unbuilt.
In 2010-11, we had the devastation of what we thought was one of our worst floods, in which people and possessions were driven out of homes right across the Bundaberg Region.
That was followed up with our worst flood in 2013 on the Australia Day long weekend.
I still see the tears running down people’s faces, the trembling in their hands and bodies when they hear the patter of rain on their roofs.
The economic impacts in 2013 were terrible. Many businesses remained closed for months, costing jobs and community cohesion.
The State Government promised to look at flood mitigation and through extensive consultation with the community, came up with a number of projects to mitigate against future disasters.
These were prioritised after getting world-leading engineering, hydrology and scientific advice, which was peer reviewed.
There were more than 185 recommendations from consultation over the following years and a number of the priority projects have already been completed.
The number one priority disaster mitigation project, not just for Bundaberg, but peer reviewed and checked for the whole state of Queensland is the East Bundaberg levee.
The proposed levee would increase protection from a Burnett River flood event similar to 2013 levels, mitigating damage in Bundaberg East, Bundaberg South and the CBD without increasing flood impacts in other areas.
The Queensland Government has put up $42.5 million towards the estimated project cost of $85 million.
They’ve done the planning and it’s ready to go.
The Federal Government created a $4 billion Emergency Response Fund but only allocates $50 million per year across the whole of Australia to prepare for and reduce the risk of future natural disasters. This amount needs to be significantly increased.
It’s now a $4.8 billion fund, having earned the Government $830 million in interest.
Of course, the Commonwealth could fund a flood levee through the Budget, as they did in Launceston. The Launceston flood levee cost $58 million including land acquisition and in the floods of June 2016 saved an estimated $216 million in losses.
I simply don’t understand why the Federal Government won’t invest $42 million to save potentially a billion dollars in the event of another major flood, which we just narrowly avoided.
Not to mention the heartache and suffering of people.
The East Bundaberg levee is supported by the Queensland Reconstruction Authority, insurance companies and the Insurance Council of Australia. It ticks all the boxes.
The levee is a no-brainer. Instead of the local Member playing politics with it, he should be the biggest champion of community safety and helping to address some of the misconceptions which he relies on to evade responsibility.
* Jack Dempsey has been Mayor of Bundaberg Regional Council since 2016. He was previously the State Member for Bundaberg and served as Minister for Police and Emergency Services.
