During Estimates hearings on Friday 26 July 2024, I asked the CEO of the Reconstruction Authority about the voluntary home buy-back scheme.
You can read my question and his full response below, or in the official Parliamentary record of proceedings (Hansard) here.
Mr BERKMAN: Great; thank you, member for Noosa. I wanted to ask some further questions on the Voluntary Home Buy-Back scheme under the Resilient Homes Fund. That fund was announced by the now Premier while standing on Vincent Street in Auchenflower in my electorate, and I have had a lot of dealings with the residents there who have sought to access the buyback scheme. Despite their best efforts, though, they have been refused access to the scheme and have, on their account of things, been given conflicting information about the criteria for deciding what would be bought back and what would not. My first question to the CEO of the Reconstruction Authority is: where would we find—if you can give them in shorthand—what are the actual criteria applied when deciding whether to buy back and who is applying those criteria?
Major Gen. Ellwood: Firstly, the council requirements for the area are one, because obviously we were doing this in close consultation with council. Council needed to be a part of this process. Secondly, it comes down to risk to life in the property. It comes down to the height of the water but not just the height. Flooding is one thing, but water velocity is the second factor that is taken into account. It is hard to find the exact point—a centimetre here or a centimetre there—so we have used a standard that council has endorsed and that is how, but it is water height, water velocity and risk to life.
Mr BERKMAN: Okay; thank you. That is helpful. On that basis, though, I understand—again, just from what I have seen and been told by these residents—that there are some houses in the immediately surrounding streets that have been bought back where residents were in fact able to walk out the front door before the flooding took hold, yet these other homes were under two-plus metres of floodwater and they have been declined under the scheme. How is that possible under those criteria?
Major Gen. Ellwood: I would have to take those specific examples and look at them, but what I have said stands. It is difficult. I have met householders who are, frankly, petrified of their house. They have been through trauma and they just do not want to be there, and I understand that. If you could you would fix all of their problems but you cannot, so we have had to focus and we have had to use science to get us to the answer and to work closely with council as well.
Mr BERKMAN: I caught the figures before about how much has been spent on buybacks to date, but can you advise what quantum of funds left for buying back properties and is there any way that the public can know which properties have been bought back under the scheme?
Major Gen. Ellwood: The program with the offers that have gone out are the ones—that is it— so there will be no more offers placed out, and we should not forget we still have the raise and retrofit program, but the program is closed. Obviously, it was advertised for quite some time and there is no scope to reopen that.
Mr BERKMAN: I have one final question if I might, Chair, and thanks for your indulgence. These residents have—at least one household and I think two—dealt with the internal review process. I am curious to know how many requests for internal review of a decision to refuse buyback have been made and how many of those were ultimately successful.
Major Gen. Ellwood: We have had 16 complaints that were managed through the QRA formal complaints process. All but one related to eligibility. The other was related to a valuation but was withdrawn prior to completion. The appeals primarily related to eligibility for voluntary home buybacks. It is important to note that some homes were processed through multiple levels of appeals all the way to the ombudsman, so the total number of appeals is not reflective of the total number of home owners who appealed the VHBB decision. Included in the total number of appeals were valuation of appeals of 20 properties.
Mr BERKMAN: Okay, so 20 properties in total?
Major Gen. Ellwood: That was for valuations.
Mr BERKMAN: Okay. Thank you.