The floods may be over but Brisbane is likely to feel the financial effects for sometime to come.

Jobs are to be slashed as the City Council struggles to meet damage costs, after large parts of the city were inundated in mid January.

Phoebe Parsons reports.

TRANSCRIPT

A mini budget released by Brisbane City Council overnight revealed it will announce $10 million worth of voluntary redundancies in the coming days.

The job cuts are a result of the city’s $114 million flood damage bill.

The Council says it’s a responsible approach aimed at keeping the budget balanced and preventing rate increases in the future.

Adrian Schrinner, Deputy Mayor: “By cutting costs internally within our existing budget that means the pressure on rates is lower.”

The opposition says the Council’s worsening financial stress started long before the floods.

Ray Smith, Brisbane Lord Mayoral Candidate: “Any budget that puts upward pressure on rates and charges and cost of living for its residents is a bad budget by a City Council who has the wrong priority and has had for seven years.”

But it’s not just jobs that will be cut, infrastructure plans may also be put on hold pending decisions made in the flood inquiry which moved to St George today.

Lessons have already been learnt from the flood inquiry according to Queensland Premier Anna Bligh. She says the state is looking to expand helicopter rescue services.

The inquiry is set to move back to Brisbane tomorrow, but it’s not the only thing the Government has had to look at.

Queenslanders have been given an extra six months to register their swimming pools.

The May 4 deadline for mandatory registration was pushed back until November 4 to focus on the State’s disaster recovery.

Phoebe Parsons, QUT News.