Mr. Lawrence Owens:

As stated earlier by Senator Hayden, a degree of work remains to be done in terms of management of our rivers and how we control them. The flooding problem can only be addressed by way of the putting in place of an effective defence mechanism and proper management. In the vast majority of cases this is being done. The opposite side of the coin is that the insurance industry will have to acknowledge the degree of initiative and effort from a business and local government point of view in terms of the development of the plan and will have to stand up to the mark in that regard. It has a social responsibility to do so. I accept the insurance industry is a commercial business.

I have no problem with anyone making a profit but there is also a social element to this.