Commission of Inquiry seeks Grantham flood answers

The Queensland Government will hold a new Commission of Inquiry into the flooding of the Lockyer Creek between Helidon and Grantham in January 2011, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced today.

Speaking in Parliament, Ms Palaszczuk said the Commission of Inquiry would be chaired by respected QC Walter Sofronoff and would run from May 11, 2015 until August 31, 2015 to allow independent modelling to take place.

“A DHI consultant report published in The Australian newspaper has suggested several inconsistencies,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“The report has found that a section of embankment that collapsed at the Grantham quarry was 260 metres long – not 55 metres as initially reported by the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry.

“This DHI report has found there were also multiple breaches of the quarry wall rather than just a single breach.”

Ms Palaszczuk said Grantham residents and their Mayor, Steve Jones, had been calling for the Inquiry.

“They are determined that the deaths of their friends and neighbours and family members on that day will not be in vain,” she said.

“The people of Grantham have suffered through an horrific, terrifying, fatal event.

“They deserve and require further closure. They want the truth to prevail.”

It is expected the consultation phase of the Inquiry will be limited to about two weeks.

There will likely be a call for public submissions and those who will provide eyewitness accounts other than Grantham residents will include police officers, fire and emergency staff and possibly the former owners of the quarry.

The five key terms of reference for the Inquiry are:

• the impacts of man-made and natural features of the landscape which could have altered or contributed to the flooding;
• whether the existence or breach of the Grantham quarry caused or contributed to the flooding
• whether the quarry had a material impact on the damage caused,
• whether the breach of the quarry had implications for the evacuation of the town and
• how these matters were initially investigated and how eyewitness accounts were dealt with in the aftermath.

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