Two engineers in charge of Wivenhoe Dam when Brisbane and Ipswich flooded have stepped aside but it's no admission of guilt, the Queensland government says.
SEQWater senior flood engineers John Tibaldi and Terry Malone, who both testified at the reconvened floods inquiry last week, have stepped aside from their roles at the government authority.
Mr Tibaldi, the lead author of a report branded a fiction at the inquiry, did so 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.
Natural Resources Minister Rachel Nolan was asked on Tuesday if the public would perceive the development as an indication of guilt.
'I don't think people should reach that conclusion,' she told AAP.
She said the men has not resigned and remained employees of SEQWater, but were not currently on the job in any capacity with the government authority.
'Making themselves unavailable is a fairer description,' she told AAP.
'I think the ordinary person can see what a difficult and gruelling exercise going through these commission proceedings is,' Ms Nolan said.
Asked if the engineers were stressed by facing the inquiry, the minister said: 'I won't comment about them specifically, but I will say I think people can see undoubtedly it's a stressful situation.'
She said they could resume their roles in the future.
During hearings last week, counsel assisting the inquiry Peter Callaghan said Mr Tibaldi's final report for SEQWater on how the dam was operated was a work of fiction.
He said it was created at the end of January after the floods, to give the false impression that water release strategies were chosen at the time of the flood event.
The dam's operating manual requires the adoption of a water release strategy at the time of a flood, but Mr Callaghan said Wivenhoe's engineers failed to do that.
A finding by the inquiry that the dam's manual was breached could expose the government to a massive compensation claim.
Mr Callaghan said the engineers only realised the requirement later and then colluded to give a false impression of events.
Mr Tibaldi has denied misleading the inquiry and creating a false report.
He broke down twice during his evidence as he described the fatigue and pressure he was under as the flood disaster unfolded.
Mr Malone, in his evidence, told the inquiry that keeping a contemporary record of water release strategies was 'too time-consuming'.
He said no run sheets were kept detailing the exact time water-release strategies were activated last January.
But he said engineers were now following that practice and logging water release strategies as flood events unfold.
Both men told the inquiry engineers had done the best they could as the disaster unfolded.
During his testimony, Mr Malone also admitted to joking in an email to Mr Tibaldi about signing his house over to his wife if a peer review of a dam operation report was bad.
Mr Tibaldi has told the inquiry the right water-release strategy - aimed at protecting urban areas - was being used on the weekend before Brisbane and Ipswich flooded.
The government is legally obliged to fill the two engineer's positions quickly.
Former Sunwater chief executive officer Peter Noonan will temporarily fill one role and another is being urgently sought.
Deputy opposition leader Tim Nicholls said the minister still had many questions to answer.
'Have the engineers been suspended by the government, did they voluntarily seek to be suspended from their duties,' he told the ABC.
'These are questions that still haven't been answered and they certainly seem to be a distraction from the evidence that has been presented, which showed the premier was intimately briefed about the operation of the dam.'
SEQWater said the engineers had taken 'special leave'.
'Both engineers have taken special leave after indicating separately to SEQWater that they are unable to continue in their roles as senior flood engineers at present,' it said in a statement.
'However both engineers are available to continue to assist the Commission of Inquiry if required.'
