The flood engineers being grilled over their role in last year's southeast Queensland floods are under protection by security guards, amid unverified reports of death threats.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh initially told reporters on Tuesday she was not aware that two of the engineers who had managed Wivenhoe Dam during the January disaster were under special protection.
The pair - John Tibaldi and Terry Malone - are on special leave from SEQWater after giving testimony to reconvened hearings of the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry.
Later on Tuesday, Ms Bligh's office issued a statement saying she had been subsequently advised that SEQWater approached the Department of Environment and Resource Management boss - who in turn contacted police on Saturday - in response to media reports of death threats against the engineers.
'Police were unable to verify the threat but recommended that security be provided for the employees as a precaution,' Ms Bligh said.
Queensland Government Security (QGS) was not able to fill SEQWater's request to secure a 'number of properties' at short notice, so some private security guards were hired.
'To ensure SEQWater's requirements were met, some private security guards were engaged for a short period of time to make up the shortfall until more QGS personnel became available,' Ms Bligh said.
'QGS regularly outsources security services to manage peaks and troughs.'
A spokesman for Ms Bligh says the engineers remain under QGS protection on Tuesday.
Mr Tibaldi, the lead author of a report that was branded a fiction at the inquiry, went on leave on Friday after finishing his testimony.
Mr Malone, who testified on Sunday that no contemporary records on water releases were kept during last year's flood - in breach of dam manual requirements - followed suit on Monday.
