Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Hansard source

I appreciate the opportunity to respond to the ministerial statement on the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission Interim Report and present the coalition’s response. We should never forget what happened on 7 February this year, we should never forget the unfathomable human tragedy and we should never forget the communities that were devastated by the worst natural disaster to have ever touched this nation—173 people died in the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria on 7 February. Now, seven months on, the wounds are still raw. The physical threat may have passed but the emotional trauma will continue to haunt us all. The misery that this fire left behind is difficult to comprehend and the communities affected will continue to grieve—as we all will—for those who have lost their loved ones, their homes and for whom life will never be the same again. As with every crisis, particularly natural disasters, the important thing for us to do is to learn from what happened and to make sure that we do everything we can to prevent it from happening again.

On 17 August we heard from the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission in their interim report that many mistakes were made and more could have been done to prepare Victoria for a natural disaster of this magnitude. I commend Commissioner Teague and his fellow commissioners on their important work over the last seven months. They have acted professionally and with great empathy. They have dedicated themselves to the harrowing task of listening to people’s stories of the horrific events and weighing up the evidence presented so the nation can learn the lessons of Black Saturday.

Regardless of what the report says about what systems may not have worked or could have worked better, the dedication of our emergency service volunteers is something of which we can all be proud. Over 4,000 fire service volunteers and career staff immediately responded to combat more than 300 fires across Victoria on 7 February. Over 10,000 personnel were subsequently involved in the largest co-ordinated emergency response and community response in the state’s history. Despite the scale of these efforts there was an unprecedented loss of life, extreme property damage and large-scale community trauma and displacement. Some of the findings of the interim report about Victoria’s preparedness, warning systems and evacuation policies are disturbing. It is now clear that the systems that were in place failed and we have to do better. Of particular concern is the failure of provision of adequate warnings and information to the public. As the report says, timely and accurate warnings may save lives, and the systems simply could not cope with a disaster of this scale.

The commission also rightly identifies problems with how the stay-or-go policy has been articulated. Priority should always be given to human life over the protection of property and the public needs to be made aware of the very real risk to human life of staying with their homes. Essentially, it is incumbent on governments to ensure that we give our communities the best information in the shortest time possible to enable them to make an informed decision about whether to stay and protect their properties or to leave early.

The member for McEwen, whose electorate was worst affected by the Black Saturday bushfires, has put forward a four-point plan to better protect local communities from the summer fire threat. I commend that plan. It includes a world-best telecommunications platform that includes an early warning system for small communities, a comprehensive fuel reduction program that eliminates the growing backlog of planned burns, construction of safe shelters at schools in fire risk areas and the introduction of better fire prevention and detection methods.

Following on from the member for McEwen’s last point, it was most disappointing that the commission’s interim report contained no recommendations on fuel reduction measures. The commission received 485 submissions where the need for fuel reduction along roadsides, in forests and around homes was raised. As the member for McEwen has pointed out, the submissions have documented rampant frustration in her electorate and others at the obstacles and complacency to reducing fuel loads. These loads are linked to fire intensity. Whilst the interim report devotes some attention to fuel reduction concerns, the commission has yet to address this vital issue and make recommendations. I appreciate that this is an interim report and fuel reduction and land management will be examined subsequently. I take that point but I stress the urgency of that examination.

It is the coalition’s view that a clearly articulated high priority fuel reduction program in fire risk communities would support the commission’s life-before-property recommendations. As the member for McEwen noted in her submission to the commission, each inquiry following previous bushfires—in particular, 1939, 1983 and 2003—has made recommendations to reduce the fuel load. These have been largely ignored. Further in the submission, the member for McEwen notes that, in addition to this lack of will by the state government of the day to enact these recommendations, there has developed a misguided practice by local governments to introduce bylaws that prevent the clearing of trees around private property and along the verges of all local roads in the name of conservation, biodiversity of species and protection.

We appreciate that the fuel reduction window has closed for this season and whilst the commission has done a great job of completing the interim report in a relative short period of time—in order, I know, to get the recommendations out there for the 2009-10 bushfire season—just as important is the next stage. There is no less urgency to complete the inquiry to address the land management and fuel reduction matters.

Parliaments have heard compelling evidence following previous fires and I will name just two. In the A Nation Charred report into the fires in 2003 chaired by Gary Nairn, eight recommendations were listed on fuel reduction and at least as many on land management. I am advised that a committee of the Victorian parliament completed an inquiry shortly before Black Saturday and recommended three times the amount of fuel reduction burning than is currently taking place.

The most fundamental responsibility on any government is the protection of its citizens. All state governments and authorities must look carefully at the findings of the commission and learn from the mistakes as we approach this fire season and beyond. May I acknowledge the hard work in the aftermath of the fires and ongoing of all of the local members involved. I particularly mentioned the member for McEwen, who was and remains absolutely indefatigable in her efforts on preventing a future occurrence and managing bushfire risk in her communities.

I also mention the member for Gippsland, who I know has proposed a national register of arsonists, something that could be made available to the police and fire services at the commencement, say, of a fire season; the member for McMillan; the member for Casey; the member for Bendigo; and the member for Indi. I should also mention the member for Dunkley, who I know gave a speech to parliament expressing concerns about the lack of clarity in fire bunker building regulations.

I ask the government to continue the spirit of bipartisanship shown after the fires and continue to consult with local members in the fire affected areas. We in the coalition pledge our full support to working with this government to bolster our preparedness in emergency response to bushfires around the country.

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