JUNGLE DRUM: Eight months on - Why hasn't Douglas Shire Council completed a review about its response to Cyclone Jasper?

LAWRENCE MASON COLUMN

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There are growing calls for an overdue, independent review into how Douglas Shire Council managed the response to Cyclone Jasper. Picture: Newsport

Douglas Shire Council seems very reluctant to conduct any sort of public review into their (Jasper) disaster response. I just don't get that. Cook Shire has done it. Cairns has done it. Why can't we?

Really, we need a comprehensive look at the entire event and response for the first six months and then beyond. Residents and staff of all agencies should be invited to make submissions, and ideally a facilitator appointed to tease out the facts from the rants and collate them.

Interestingly the acting CEO Paul Hoye indicated in a meeting at Cape Tribulation that he thought funding for a review had been sought, and rejected. If this is the case that rejection should also be reviewed. You would think that all levels of government would want a review.

The review would not be just about failures. There is no question that many people did a great deal to help stranded communities. Even where things were less than ideal, I personally doubt that anyone deliberately prevented help from getting to communities.

The problems are more systemic, where guidelines and processes simply did not fit what was needed. Generally written guidelines tend to lack empathy and unless those implementing them are prepared to be flexible, stranded communities feel unheard.

A great example of this was mail delivery, something that sounds trite, but was actually really important in towns where roads were closed for months. Or Degarra temporary accommodation not being sited where it was needed: on people's land. The lack of suitable waste dumps. Carrying out medical interviews in public at Cape Tribulation. The lists go on and on.

There are so many things we can do better next time. And none of this takes away from the staff of various agencies who busted their gut helping. A review isn't a pile on, it is a genuine attempt by all to make things better next time. Even good things can be made better.

I can't accept that a review would slow things down to any great degree. Sure some resources would be needed, but reviewing now while we are in midst of very slow repairs would enable staff to identify problems while they were fresh in their minds.

And lets not forget, many of these problems are systemic, and not within the Douglas Shire structure. However the Shire reporting on what slowed repairs and recovery would at least enable other agencies to understand the problems they create.

I see that nominations for awards are now live. It is awesome to think that people who went above and beyond will be recognised, but surely this sort of process should be concurrent with some looking inward?

Douglas Shire always seems reluctant to analyze for some reason. Perhaps it is the tourism nature of the place; we market and advertise how good we are so much that any inward looking is frowned upon?

*Lawrence Mason has lived at Cape Tribulation all his life, and has been involved in farming, timber and tourism. He is a former board member of Tourism Port Douglas Daintree, founding Chair of Daintree Marketing Co-operative, and has been a member of both Alexandra Bay and Mossman State High School P&C. He is also a member of the Douglas Chamber of Commerce and has a keen interest in local issues.

  • The opinions and views in this column are those of the author and author only and do not reflect the Newsport editor or staff.

Note: Newsport understands DSC sought recent funding to stage an independent review into their Japser reponse, however it's understood, for reasons unknown, their grant application was rejected by the State Government. Michael - Ed

 

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