Flood protection push
Latrobe lobbies for action in Braddon by-election campaign
THE Latrobe Council aims to use the Braddon by-election to its advantage and lobby for Commonwealth funding to install flood-mitigation measures in the town.
Latrobe was hard hit by the 2016 floods and a $170,000 study to determine if the construction of a wall, levee system or other infrastructure could save it from major flooding in the future is now complete.
“We have a draft of the report and expect it to be finalised this week. It will then be presented to the Labor and Liberal candidates in the byelection to see what funding might be available for any mitigation measures recommend- ed,” Latrobe Freshney said.
State and federal Labor are putting pressure on the Tas- Mayor Peter manian Government to act on the recommendations of a review into the devastating 2016 floods – a report it has now had for 12 months.
The report recommended the State Government conduct a comprehensive assessment of flood mapping in Tasmania and establish a central flood policy unit.
“Malcolm Turnbull promised funding for flood mitigation in Latrobe during the 2016 election, and we’re yet to see work start,” Labor’s Braddon candidate Justine Keay said.
Latrobe was hit particularly hard in the flood emergency with one resident drowning in her home and another 100 rescued by boat and helicopter.
One hundred houses and businesses were inundated with floodwater, farms were ravaged and livestock lost.
Labor’s Braddon MP Shane Broad said there was no evidence any of the 24 recommendations from the flood review had been acted on.
“In fact, the Emergency Management Minister Michael Ferguson recently admitted that important initiatives like flood mapping have not been started, won’t be undertaken until the end of this year and will then take up to three years to complete,” Dr Broad said.
A spokesman yesterday said since the release of the review the State Government had been getting on with the job of implementing the recommendations.
“This includes a major flood mapping project, worth $3 million with equal contributions from the Australian and Tasmanian governments, which is currently underway,” he said.
“The Government is working to enhance community resilience, and to support actions that mitigate risk and help communities recover after natural disasters.”