Thread: Floods - Stupid things journos say

I believe that they are trained to ask "what's it feel like etc " at the Communications courses to get the maximum "good television"

I liked the comment from the bloke in Norman Park who said "I bought the house in 1975 and thought I was OK for 100years." I think he was joking but the reporter lapped it up. Of course in 1975 he would have got it cheap.It took Oh 2-3 years for southerners and others to buy up Jindalee etc again.

Then there is the big article in The Australian saying that it is unfair that people who buy in flood prone areas should not be able to get cheap flood insurance and that the State Governments ought to provide it.

There is a little thing called "moral hazard" that means that if that were possible that every developer( even more so than now) would be building houses on mud flats.

IMHO, anyone who buys in flood areas know what they are buying and if they don't one has to wonder about their mental capacities and questioning ability. But then I lived in Ashfield st East Brisbane as a child(see Australian Gallery no 2 as at 4:30 PM 13/1) and used to ride my bike up to the forks in water around Norman creek just in a King Tide and often over at the Deshon after a good rain. And that is why my parent's house had 4 metre stumps, which the people who bought it promptly filled in underneath. They reaped what they sowed.
Doesn't something click when they are told "no flood insurance"?
Regards Philip A

People generally buy where they can afford to. Just look at what happens in Bangladesh nearly every year.

Originally Posted by korg20000bc

People generally buy where they can afford to. Just look at what happens in Bangladesh nearly every year.

Yeah the cheap land is away from the water up high, all the expensive stuff us on the water so perhaps floods on average effect the people most able to help themselves.

Originally Posted by F4Phantom

Yeah the cheap land is away from the water up high, all the expensive stuff us on the water so perhaps floods on average effect the people most able to help themselves.

No - overly simplistic. Riverside land may be expnsive but isn;t all at river level (cliffs etc) and further inland may be below river level - doesnt take long to flood !

As to "cheap land is up high" well point me at some please!!!

Originally Posted by VladTepes

No - overly simplistic. Riverside land may be expnsive but isn;t all at river level (cliffs etc) and further inland may be below river level - doesnt take long to flood !

As to "cheap land is up high" well point me at some please!!!

yeah I know its a bit simple but in cities you pay more closer to water. In the country you only need another half metre of water to open up a new flood plain.

People generally buy where they can afford to. Just look at what happens in Bangladesh nearly every year.

WOW! That is the best stretch I have seen, comparing penniless squatters in Bangladesh with people in Brisbane in one of the richest countries in the World who paid at least $100K or so even in 1975 ( my mothers house went for 149k very run down in 87), which is equivalent to about 600-800K today.
The point is - if people/councils/governments were a bit smarter then the prices would not be high in flood areas, particularly if councils put the equivalent of a NSW149 certificate on it, stating it was flood prone and this could happen in 2 years or 100years.
Ina ny cas ethe houses should never have been built ther e. ifyou look at the gallery I referred to in my last post, you will see most of the flooding in Norman creek is Heath Park and Churchie's sports grounds, and that's how it should be.
But in NSW all the coastal land holders are fighting this tooth and nail. In Byron bay The wealthy landowners in the spit are trying to outspend the council by bringing a $1Million suit and ditto on the Central Coast as it will affect their land values.
Regards Philip A

That standard question, "How did you feel when (insert tragic event) happened to you?" has to be the most inappropriate, unnecessary question imaginable.

I want information in the news, not an attempt by some traumatised person to put into words the anguish they must be feeling. Apart from that, if I am incapable of imagining how they must feel to have their loved one, property or livelihood torn from them, then nothing they can say is likely to have any impact on me. I doubt that in their circumstances I could find the words to convey how I felt, even if I was thinking clearly enough to even understand how I felt.

I think that my vote for the most inappropriate question in the last couple of days was the journalist who, when the PM was explaining about what the Federal Government was doing and was prepared to do for flood victims, asked about that might mean a possible delay in returning the budget to surplus. Surely even the most rabid anti-Labor listener would have preferred to have information about the flood crisis and the government response rather than listen to some smart alec "journalist" attempt to score cheap political points.

Originally Posted by PhilipA

WOW! That is the best stretch I have seen, comparing penniless squatters in Bangladesh with people in Brisbane in one of the richest countries in the World who paid at least $100K or so even in 1975 ( my mothers house went for 149k very run down in 87), which is equivalent to about 600-800K today.
The point is - if people/councils/governments were a bit smarter then the prices would not be high in flood areas, particularly if councils put the equivalent of a NSW149 certificate on it, stating it was flood prone and this could happen in 2 years or 100years.
Ina ny cas ethe houses should never have been built ther e. ifyou look at the gallery I referred to in my last post, you will see most of the flooding in Norman creek is Heath Park and Churchie's sports grounds, and that's how it should be.
But in NSW all the coastal land holders are fighting this tooth and nail. In Byron bay The wealthy landowners in the spit are trying to outspend the council by bringing a $1Million suit and ditto on the Central Coast as it will affect their land values.
Regards Philip A

So, you saying that people generally buy where they cannot afford?