CITATION: Hedley Thomas

Hedley Thomas has been recognized, firstly, for the voice that he gave to those few individuals, engineers, flood victims and public servants, who sought to provide the technical guidance that the Queensland Flood Inquiry was lacking, and, secondly, for the investigation that caused the Inquiry to hesitate and then to withdraw from the interim support that the Inquiry had given to the actions of water authorities.

The full story of how the processes of the Inquiry silenced technical advice dissenting from that preferred by the Inquiry has yet to be told, but Hedley Thomas distinguished himself by being able to see which of the technical arguments held the truth.

He supported that argument despite its humble origins and lack of legal representation held by those origins.