5 June 2017

Will Hodgman, Premier

, Minister for Police and Emergency Management

Flood review released

The Government has today publicly released the Report of the Independent Review into the Tasmanian Floods of June and July 2016.

Premier Will Hodgman said:

“Last year’s floods devastated large parts of Tasmania, particularly the north, tragically taking three lives, damaging houses, farmland and infrastructure, and costing more than $180 million.

“It was important that we had a thorough and independent analysis of the response by all levels of Government, which is why we commissioned respected former Auditor-General Mike Blake to prepare this report.

"Overall, Mr Blake has found that the response of all levels of government, emergency services and the community to the floods was generally robust; however, with the benefit of hindsight it is clear that the overall response could be improved for future events in some areas.

‘Mr Blake also finds that there was a “good focus on recovery.”

Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Management, Rene Hidding said:

“I would like again to personally thank all emergency services personnel, volunteers, government agencies and GBEs for their roles during last year’s floods.

“While this period in the State's history was tragic and devastating, it was also a fine example of the people of Tasmania pulling together when they had to.”

Key findings and conclusions of the report included:

• Hydro cloud seeding had “no impact on precipitation”, with this finding having a “solid scientific basis”;
• The State Government should undertake a comprehensive assessment of flood mapping in Tasmania;
• The SES align their community education programs, sharing resources with the Tasmanian Fire Service;
• The Government should establish a central Flood Policy Unit;
• The Department of Premier and Cabinet should become the standing Recovery Management Authority;
• While it "may be” that State and Local Government under-invests in flood mitigation, a lot more work is required to understand whether measures such as additional flood levees are appropriate;
• The response to the Huonville Floods in July was an example of “effective planning, preparation and collaboration that other flood management authorities should learn from.”

Minister Hidding said that the report had a total of 24 recommendations, which the Government will now carefully consider before responding.

The Government has today also released the Final Report of the Tasmanian Floods Recovery Taskforce.

Mr Blake’s report is available at www.dpac.tas.gov.au/government_flood_review

The Flood Recovery Taskforce Report is available at alert,tas,gov.au/floodrecovery

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