Tuesday, 30 July 2024

Environment and Planning Committee

Inquiry into the 2022 Flood Event in Victoria

Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (14:26): Pursuant to standing order 23.22, I table the final report and summary booklet on the inquiry into the 2022 flood event in Victoria, including appendices, extracts of proceedings and minority reports, from the Environment and Planning Committee, and present the transcripts of evidence. I move:

That the transcripts of evidence be tabled and the report and summary booklet be published.

Motion agreed to.

Ryan BATCHELOR: I move:

That the Council take note of the report.

The wettest month on record in Victoria had devastating consequences. The flood event in October 2022 was a significant natural disaster, and this inquiry by the Environment and Planning Committee was an important way to give voice to those who had lost so much. It was also an opportunity to help recommend ways that communities and government could better prepare for, respond to and recover from future flood disasters, and with 90 findings and 73 recommendations, this report does just that. It is informed by deeply impactful stories from communities and by expert evidence from emergency responders, local authorities, climate scientists, hydrologists and urban planners. It is clear that climate change is intensifying weather events and increasing the risks we all face. It is also clear that in the midst of disaster the community spirit shone through. People went above and beyond to help their neighbours, mobilising to protect their towns, reaching out and ensuring that no-one was left alone or abandoned in a time of crisis. Emergency response agencies, ably led by the VICSES and local search and rescue, played an exceptionally important role.

Not all the damage done in the October 2022 flood event was caused by nature alone. The impact of the rain that fell was exacerbated by decisions made often years prior – decisions about the shape of the built environment and about new physical infrastructure made by our planning system. The committee was asked to examine several of these, and we found that the Flemington Racecourse flood wall increased the extent by 1 per cent and the depth by 2 per cent of the flood in Maribyrnong. The parts of the Rivervue Retirement Village removed from a land subject to inundation overlay were in fact flooded less than a decade later, and the releases of water from Lake Eppalock and Lake Eildon impacted local landholders and communities.

This inquiry sought answers to the same question that many in the community asked: why? The report gives a detailed account of the evidence received, and I encourage members, and members of the community, to read that detailed evidence. For example, on Rivervue the evidence we received, notably from Tony Pagone AM KC and his independent review panel, was that mistakes were made in the rezoning process. One of the most critical roles for government going forward is to accurately and honestly inform communities about risk – risk that is dynamic and not static and not fixed at a point in time. New flood modelling is being undertaken across all of Melbourne’s catchments, informed this time by climate change, and this new information will inevitably show an increasing flood risk, as we saw recently in the Maribyrnong catchment and in places like Kensington Banks. Communities need to be properly supported through this process of updated risk information, and leaders in the community need to show compassion and support. For 18 months the Legislative Council Environment and Planning Committee has worked on this report, informed by 880 submissions and evidence given at public hearings in Rochester, Echuca, Seymour, Shepparton and here in Melbourne. The committee conducted site visits in Maribyrnong, Flemington, Avondale Heights and Echuca. On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank all of those who took the time to tell us their stories and who gave us the benefit of their expertise. All of this evidence was invaluable.

This final report obviously follows an interim report the committee tabled in northern Victoria during our regional sitting in Echuca in April. I would like to thank all of my committee colleagues for their diligent work and the collegiate spirit shown throughout this inquiry, especially Ms Terpstra, who served as chair of the committee until November 2023 and led the committee during the regional hearings. Inquiries owe much to the hardworking staff in the committee secretariat, led by manager Lilian Topic, inquiry officer Caitlin Connally, research assistant Adeel Siddiqi and communications adviser Ben Kimber, with administrative support by Sylvette Bassy, and the teams in Hansard and broadcasting who helped bring this inquiry to the communities most connected to our work. Please accept my sincere thanks on behalf of all members of the committee.

Nothing can bring back the homes and businesses destroyed nor the lives tragically lost in this flood event, but honest learning and a determination to enact change is a fitting and lasting tribute.

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (14:31): Communities across Victoria, particularly in the north, were devastated by the floods that swept across our state in October 2022. Two lives were lost, countless homes and businesses were destroyed and thousands were made homeless, and communities are still recovering from the effects of the floods. The flood inquiry examined the pre-flood risk planning, emergency readiness, early warning systems, rapid response strategies and resourcing of local emergency services as well as resourcing of recovery efforts. The report makes 90 findings, and it is critical of the standard of emergency preparedness in Victoria prior to the floods. The report also makes 73 recommendations to the state government that will improve community readiness to react to imminent disasters and to respond more effectively in the wake of future disasters.

The inquiry received 880 submissions, of which 608 came from northern Victoria, and 344 of those were from Rochester alone. I would like to thank everyone who made a submission, who gave evidence at a hearing, who participated in an open mic session or even attended a hearing. I would like to thank the local government areas who went above and beyond to make way for us to have our hearings in their communities. There are 90 findings, there are 73 recommendations, and I do implore the government to implement and fund all 73 of those recommendations.

I would also like to thank the secretariat of the Environment and Planning Committee, led by Lilian Topic, who have been absolutely amazing throughout this whole inquiry, and our report is a testament to your professional standards. Thank you very much.

Just lastly, I would like to make special mention of my two constituents who died in the floods – 71-year-old Kevin Wills of Rochester and 65-year-old Bryan Hack of Nathalia – and pass my condolences to their families and friends.

David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (14:34): I would like to broadly endorse the comments of Mr Batchelor and commend the report to the chamber and to the community. I would also like to express my profound appreciation to the large number of Victorians, both city and country, who generously came forward to frankly tell their stories of the flood and its aftermath – likewise to the range of dedicated first responders, institutional stakeholders and subject experts, and our wonderful secretariat led by Lilian Topic.

The findings and recommendations contained in the final report of the inquiry reflect the overwhelmingly bipartisan approach adopted by committee members. However, Legalise Cannabis Victoria have misgivings about two matters that I would like to raise. Firstly, the terrible decision-making processes that were reflected in the approval of the Flemington Racecourse flood wall and the Rivervue Retirement Village – while there was no smoking gun of corporate interference, there are still so many unanswered questions about both of these outcomes. Secondly, in terms of the last-minute release of information from Melbourne Water with their revised flood modelling, communities along the Maribyrnong are shocked and wanting answers. They have a right to those answers, and the committee did not get the opportunity to fully interrogate the information.

In commending the flood report, we note that the forthcoming inquiry into climate change resilience and the 19 October referral to the Ombudsman can and must seek truths and must provide directions forward for affected communities. I know this is an aspiration shared both in this place and in communities across the state.

Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (14:35): I would firstly like to thank our Environment and Planning Committee secretariat led by Lilian Topic and all of her fabulous crew. They acted with integrity, dedication and professionalism in the face of real human tragedy, and their kindness is well appreciated. I would like to thank every single Victorian who provided feedback, made a submission and shared their pain and insights at our hearings both regionally and in Melbourne.

When the 2022 floods inundated homes, businesses, shops, schools and community infrastructure, wrecked roads and ripped through our communities, tragically taking two lives and decimating stock along the way, we saw the very best of human nature in northern Victoria and in our Maribyrnong residents as we saw them rally to help each other in a time of crisis. We saw first responders, both coordinated and spontaneous. We saw local charities and organisations. And we heard in our committee hearings the role and failings of the Victorian government and its agencies. The committee heard how residents did feel abandoned quite often by government, left to fend for themselves with inaccurate information and questioning who was in charge in the wake of this destruction. The government often spoke about continual improvement. Well, I believe the 90 findings and 70 recommendations in this report actually go very much to the pinpoint of how this government can improve and do better for Victorians, not only for our infrastructure but for our environment.

The things that most interest me of course are about the preparation for floods, the mitigation, the warnings, the recovery and resilience-building in our communities. I thank each and every one of our participants for that. I also want to thank our committee members for being collegiate in their endeavours and producing a majority report that the Liberals and Nationals felt adequately reflected the views and conditions of our communities.

Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (14:38): The purpose of the flood inquiry was to examine our state’s preparedness and response to the major floods that impacted Victoria in 2022. We received 880 submissions and heard directly from those impacted. We know that precious lives were lost. We heard from elderly residents who woke up to find water coming into their bedrooms; farmers flooded by water storages released without warning, their annual crops and incomes along with livestock lost in the floodwaters; inaccurate flood warnings that caused confusion; roads and bridges torn apart and councils still waiting for funds to repair them; residents sleeping on wet mattresses; homes left gutted and people still waiting for insurance claims to be resolved 12 months on; emergency volunteers waiting up to six years to do training courses; a shortage of sandbags; critical infrastructure, such as levies, dams and culverts, that was inadequate; online grant support offered in areas with no internet access; and businesses destroyed by floods overwhelmed by paperwork to prove it. Many parts of northern Victoria were hit hard by the floods.

I want to thank the members of the committee from all sides of politics, the secretariat especially and parliamentary staff for their work during this inquiry and for holding the hearings in northern Victoria – in Rochester, Echuca, Seymour and Mooroopna – to hear directly from those impacted. It was clear from the stories that we heard that Victoria was not well equipped to respond to a flood of this scale and there is much work that still needs to be done to help us be better prepared for the future.

The flood inquiry report is available on the Parliament of Victoria’s committee website and clearly outlines the findings and recommendations of the committee. There are many key priorities. These priorities are identified in the report because people from across the region shared their stories, and I sincerely thank them for doing so. Now it is up to the government to respond to these recommendations by taking action and reporting back to Parliament on its progress.

Samantha RATNAM (Northern Metropolitan) (14:40): I rise to commend this report, and I concur with the contributions that have been made by the chair and fellow members. I firstly want to thank the community for contributing so extensively to this really important inquiry, often through ongoing pain and loss – loss of life, property and ongoing livelihood impacts. I also want to thank the secretariat and staff for the incredible work that they put in to make this very extensive investigation possible and members of the Environment and Planning Committee. I think it was an example of Parliament at its best, when we can work collaboratively across differences in the best interests of the community.

While the report is indeed extensive – as you will see with its volume – in many ways it only scratched the surface about what is going on and how we need to modernise both our planning and our emergency response systems to deal with what climate change is going to impose on our communities far and wide. This pertains, for example, to the planning system, which is a complex system but needs more transparency and accountability because of this inherent complexity within the system. We see the creep of private and commercial interests in decision-making, and when that intersects with the use of ministerial powers – we have had examples where ministerial power has led to decisions that were not in the best interests of the community – these things need to be interrogated. That pertains to the Flemington Racecourse flood wall and the Rivervue Retirement Village. Much more investigation needs to occur to give comfort, satisfaction and recourse to those residents who are now left with the impact of a broken planning system and very opaque decision-making that need greater interrogation.

We also looked at what happens when you start to outsource what were previously in-house functions of statutory authorities, and we believe that warrants further investigation – so too the planning decisions around Kensington Banks, which only came to us during the final moments of the inquiry. I commend this report to the house.

Motion agreed to.