Queensland flood victims have taken their fight for compensation to the High Court, hoping to reverse a devastating court win for a government-owned dam operator.
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People who lost everything in the 2011 disaster were shocked last month when the NSW Court of Appeal sided with Seqwater.
Seqwater was one of three parties who were found in 2019 to have failed almost 7000 Brisbane and Ipswich residents during the floods.
That decision, by the NSW Supreme Court, ruled Seqwater, the Queensland government and another state-owned dam operator SunWater exacerbated flooding by failing to properly operate Wivenhoe and Somerset dams.
The Queensland government and SunWater accepted the 2019 ruling, and agreed to pay $440 million to compensate victims.
But Seqwater appealed and won that battle last month. It's that decision victims hope to challenge in the High Court.
If they win, they stand to gain another $440 million, on top of what the state government and SunWater have said they will pay.
Class action law firm Maurice Blackburn expects to learn if the High Court will hear the victims' appeal within the next six months.
If it does, the appeal itself may not be decided for another 18 months after that.
Australian Associated Press
