Politicians face rising tide of criticism over spending and warnings

As Queensland's floods begin to recede, politicians are facing a rising tide of criticism.

Federal and state governments are coming under attack for letting spending on flood mitigation slip as their focus swung to drought, and for not heeding warnings of the inevitable.

Climate experts had been predicting an emerging La Nina event - the reverse of an El Nino - which usually brings heavy rain to the country.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the La Nina years of 1916-1917, 1950, 1954-56 and 1973-75 had been accompanied by some of the 20th century's worst flooding.

Last year the signs became increasingly clear as heavy rains made 2010 the wettest year this century and the third-wettest since records began in 1900.

When the rains came they were devastating, inundating northern New South Wales before Christmas and then devastating Queensland.

While nothing could have prevented the floods, critics have claimed that damage could have been lessened if flood mitigation spending had been maintained.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott told the Australian he intended to build new dams to reduce the impact of floods when he won power.

And spending on infrastructure has also been attacked, critics singling out the failure of road and rail systems to cope with the disaster.

The most recent Engineers Australia report card on infrastructure says spending has not caught up with an A$700 billion ($879 billion) shortfall caused by years of under-investment.

The report rated the nation's roads as adequate to poor, and gave the rail system a D+ score.

Acting Attorney-General Brendan O'Connor admitted on Queensland radio that successive federal governments had neglected infrastructure spending.

"But I do believe this Government has responded to the infrastructure concerns and will do again, as we've made a commitment to do so," he said.