'It's hard to believe we can't do better than this', says Qld. Premier



You CAN do better, Anna. Build more dams and thus prevent the problems in the first place. There should be a weir across every flood-prone river in Qld. Stop spending money on Greenie fads and spend it on something useful.

For those who are unaware of it, a weir is a low-cost but very efficient water regulation system. It's just a big lump of concrete across a river with a fixed outlet pipe at the bottom of the weir which is wide enough to let normal flows through only. So when floods hit, water levels rise and when a drought hits, water levels fall. The result is a steady flow in the river which is good for both the creatures in the river and the people who use it for water


Premier Anna Bligh says she would like to see a better system developed so Australians have more comprehensive insurance protection against flood disasters.

Last week both Ms Bligh and Prime Minister Julia Gillard urged insurance companies to be flexible when processing the thousands of claims being lodged for flood damage. But the Insurance Council of Australia noted that not all insurance policies would cover policyholders for the type of flood event that has ravaged vast areas of Queensland.

Ms Bligh said today that Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser would speak to the federal government about the situation. "It's hard to believe that Australia can't do better than this. When you see the scale of this and understand the havoc and heartache this has brought, it is hard to believe we can't find a better system," she told Channel Seven's Weekend Sunrise program. "There are some big policy questions out of this. Now we've got the immediate response dealt with we can start to look at those big issues."

Ms Bligh said many people had paid their insurance premiums believing they were covered for floods and "now they find this is the wrong kind of flood".

This morning, Ms Bligh and Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan announced a further $20 million had been donated to the official Queensland flood relief fund, $10 million each from the state and federal governments. Donations to the fund have so far reached about $64 million, Ms Bligh said.

"But this disaster has now grown into something absolutely unprecedented in our state and the situation we are facing has more than tripled in size since the appeal began," she added. The money is being used to rebuild homes, replace property and get Queenslanders back on their feet.

At least 28,000 properties have been affected by the flooding.

SOURCE

1 comment:

  1. "Premier Anna Bligh says she would like to see a better system developed so Australians have more comprehensive insurance"...

    Well, how about dropping your demands for insurers to "be compassionate" to people without proper cover? Or is she loving the accolades a bit too much for that...

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