The Queensland government has forced the Moreton Bay Regional Council to remove reference to sea level rises in its plans, prompting claims this will shift risk from the council and place it on the state, the ABC reported late on Wednesday.
Moreton Bay mayor Allan Sutherland said the government was now obliged to extend the order to Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and other councils that had “incorporated the same assumption of a 0.8 metre sea level rise by 2100 into their plans.”
Mr Sutherland said he told deputy premier Jeff Seeney the state government had to direct the council to remove the sea level reference because if the council had done so voluntarily it could be legally liable.
“We will now remove it from our planning scheme because we’ve been requested to do so,” he said.
“That shifts the responsibility from the council to the State government.
“It will now be the State government that will carry the liability into the future.”
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