Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to deal with two issues in relation to safety on the Mornington Peninsula and in my electorate as we approach the summer period. The first of those is the area of Blind Bight and the coastal villages. These are the towns of Blind Bight, Warneet, Cannons Creek and Tooradin. These towns have for a long while suffered from a severe fire risk. I met with the townspeople some months ago; we put together a fire safety and security plan. We have put that to the state government and the city of Casey. There has been some progress but the state government has failed in its duty to provide adequate protection for the people of the coastal villages. It has not engaged in proper clearance and preparation for the summer ahead. We have to put maximum pressure on the state to ensure that there has been appropriate clearance of what is an area of extreme and high fire danger going into another summer season which itself will have extreme and high fire danger. There is the combination of an area which is particularly vulnerable and a season which is likely to be particularly severe. Those are the risks facing the people of these small coastal villages. They are people who are alert and alarmed, people who are concerned and have taken their own action but have not been given support for the ongoing maintenance, care and protection of the coastal strip and high vegetation areas which is necessary.

I believe the council has done good work and I thank the council for that. I thank in particular the mayor, Geoff Ablett, who in terms of personal circumstances has had the most difficult of years. The council deserves to be congratulated, but the state must be held to account. I hope that steps can be taken to ensure that there is appropriate clearance of fallen and dead branches, overgrowth, pathways and fire breaks which will allow the people of the coastal villages to spend their summer secure in the knowledge that they will be markedly safer because of the efforts which can be, should be and must be taken.

This brings me to a second area of pressing human security in the town of Mount Martha, in the electorate of Flinders. Nepean Highway runs in front of the newly created Balcombe Grammar School. It is a beautiful school where numbers are growing; next year there will be well over 500 students in the school. I am delighted that Balcombe Grammar has taken off. A few short years ago Fay Weston came to see me with a proposal for a low-fee Christian school in Mount Martha. We worked to put the school together with the Reverend John Leaver, Evelyn Sayers and Barry Steggle. That school is now a reality, but there is a danger for students who attend the school. As families go up the hill to Balcombe Grammar School along Nepean Highway they have to make a dangerous right-hand turn. Students also have to cross a highway to get to a bus stop. They do not have a school crossing, a lollipop lady or a lollipop man. There are not adequate reductions in speed near the school. So it is very clear that for the coming school year VicRoads must act in conjunction with the state to ensure that there is either a school crossing or a set of lights or that there are appropriate reductions in speed limits.

The situation is foreseeable and people are forewarned. I do not want to be wise after the event and have to report to the House that actions which could have been taken were not taken and that there has been a tragedy. So right now I urge the state roads minister and the state education minister to stand up and acknowledge that there is the potential for tragedy. The school, which has grown exponentially over three years—it gone from nothing to having over 500 students next year—and abuts a major highway, must have adequate safety for students crossing the road. There is no compromise on this, but on the method—absolutely. A crossing, lights or a significant reduction in speeds during school hours are the options. The state must produce results this summer. (Time expired)