New development: Flood events continue to raise issues of public sector accountability

Abstract

Climate change scientists argue that there is a link between climate change and the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. The catastrophic consequences of these natural disasters on human life, agriculture and infrastructure calls into question the role and responsibility of governments in managing such events. Mixed messages are being communicated by governments to the public from one extreme advocating the provision of as much assistance as required to rebuild communities following an extreme weather event, to policies being developed encouraging communities to become more resilient. Seemingly, there is no contradiction in following both approaches, however, it is currently not clear the extent of responsibility and accountability for protecting its citizens versus the onus on the community to defend itself from natural disasters. This paper explores these themes from the perspective of local government in relation to the devastating floods that hit Victoria, Australia in 2010/11.

Keywords:

• Extreme weather events
• local government
• resilience

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank Public Money & Management's reviewers for their constructive comments on this article and Victoria University, College of Business for providing seed-funding for the research project on the Victorian floods.