Letter to the editor | Flood inquiry raises serious concerns

The recently released report from the Victorian Government inquiry into the October 2022 flood events has raised major issues that must be addressed as a matter of priority.

The report makes it abundantly clear that when multiple levels of government move away from their core responsibilities, we see people’s lives be negatively impacted.

We saw this during the floods when the basic maintenance of drains was not met, mitigation measures that could have helped were ignored time and time again, a lack of funding was provided to ensure emergency warnings could effectively operate, and ineffective, hard-to-access and delayed support was provided to those who suffered.

We need governments at all levels, including local, state and federal, to make sure they are delivering services that will benefit our communities and not be sidetracked by issues that distract from their core responsibilities.