Judge Bligh by what she did to prevent this

How a leader appears in a crisis is indeed important, if for no other reason than the effect on morale. By that measure, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has performed very, very well.

But Gavin Atkins is right to say that real judgment on her must take in what her Government did to prevent or mitigrate this disaster:

Bligh was praised both for demonstrating Queenslanders' strength in adversity, and later for her emotion when she broke down at a press conference.

All of this, to me, is bizarre. Are we so shallow that the television performances of politicians during a disaster should cause their promotion or demotion? I thought Karl Stefanovic also did well on television during the floods, but does anyone really want to wake up with Karl as prime minister?

A politician's role in disaster management should not be demonstrating sufficient empathy, but to put in place policies that mitigate the disaster in the first place or prevent it happening again.

About those issues we as yet know too little, and once the emergency is over we must see what there is to learn to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again.

But here's one lesson already, as I've mentioned before:

As for Gillard, documents relating to the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam, vetoed by Peter Garrett in 2009, reveal it would have reduced flood levels in Gympie by about 4m. Garrett vetoed the dam over concern for lungfish, turtles and cod.

While this would not have been built in time for the present floods, you would have to question the sincerity of the Gillard government when it comes to flood control in Queensland.