Alannah Mactiernan (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) expresses deep condolences for the suffering and loss of life, homes and businesses in the recent Yarloop fires, and expresses our gratitude to career and volunteer firefighters who worked courageously to contain the fires;

(2) notes the quality capabilities and assets of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in Western Australia and the availability of those to provide Defence Aid to the Civilian Community (DACC) at the request of state and territory governments in the event of emergency situations;

(3) acknowledges that the Australian Government and the ADF have established protocols under COMDISPLAN as to how DACC can be utilised in emergency situations;

(4) calls on the Minister for Justice to engage the Western Australian Government to ensure it is aware of the capabilities and assets of the ADF in Western Australia to assist with serious bushfire events, as these were not utilised in either the recent Yarloop/Harvey fires, nor the Esperance fires in late 2015; and

(5) notes that:

(a) climate change has resulted in an increased likelihood of catastrophic bushfires in Western Australia, as bushfires increase in number, burn for longer and affect larger areas of land;

(b) the Climate Council estimates that by 2030, the number of professional firefighters in Western Australia will need to more than double to meet the increasing risk of bushfires; and

(c) there will be a greater role for the Australian Government and the Department of Defence in dealing with these issues across Australia.

We have previously spoken here on the tragic losses sustained in the Yarloop fires and of our gratitude to all of those that were involved in containing these terrible fires and dealing with the sequelae of them. Today I want to focus, in our brief time, on what we need to do for the future. The Climate Council's 2015 report, The heat is on: climate change, extreme heat and bushfires in WA, found that the concept of a normal bushfire season is rapidly changing as bushfires increase in number, burn for longer and affect larger areas of land. They found that, by 2030, the number of professional firefighters in WA will need to more than double to cater for this increasing risk and intensity.

We have to question how WA would cope if there was a Yarloop, an Esperance and a Margaret River fire burning at the same time. We need to ensure that we are fully utilising all available resources to fight these fires. In particular, I want to ask whether or not we are utilising the skills and the physical assets of the Defence Reserves based in WA. This question has been raised with me on frequent occasions by reservists, career service personnel and fire victims. There is a much deeper engagement needed in WA on these important capabilities.

I know that the Australian Defence Force has established protocols under the COMDISPLAN as to how Defence aid to civilian communities can be utilised in emergency situations at the request of the state and territory governments. Other states do not appear to have any reluctance to ask for such assistance—Queensland requested assistance on five occasions between 2011 and 2013 for these category 3 tasks, which is where there is no direct threat to human life. The ADF was heavily involved in the recovery work following the Victorian Black Saturday bushfires in 2009—indeed, more than 600 personnel were deployed in Operation Vic Fire Assist, including reservists from WA who remember this service with great pride.

One of the defining images of the Yarloop fires was of firefighters passed out on the ground from sheer exhaustion. In a separate fire in the south-west just a couple of weeks later, the local state MP had to call 000 to beg for food for the exhausted volunteer firefighters, who had returned from 12-hour shifts to find no food or support. I understand that a senior Defence member was part of the state operations centre team responding to the Yarloop fires, but this does not seem to have translated into assistance on the ground, even though there was a multitude of ways in which Defence could have helped. Defence has a wide range of assets in WA that could be utilised during bushfires. We have earthmoving equipment such as tractors and excavators that could be used to establish firebreaks and water tankers that could be used as a refill point, ending the need for a two-hour round trip to refill trucks. We have heavy-duty trucks that could be used to move personnel and equipment through the fire zone. There is an Army depot in Bunbury, which is less than an hour from the fire zone, with a range of assets that could have been utilised.

We are not arguing that Defence personnel should be out there holding the hoses, but they could provide the logistical support needed to free up the firefighters' time. Reservists could be made available on four hours notice. They have had years of training in this work and they could have been deployed to assist, as they have been deployed to assist over in the East. Defence could also be used to help mop up, get roads cleared and get critical infrastructure back on track. We saw the Karnet Prison Farm inmates being given an opportunity to help out in these logistics. We say, 'Let our Army reservists do the same.' I ask that our justice minister engage the Western Australian government to ensure that it is well aware of the capabilities of the Australian Defence Force to assist in these events to ensure that, next time, when we see a fire of this scale, we will utilise all available capacity. Tragically, we know that there will be a next time. (Time expired)

Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for this motion?

Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Canning. The practical management of major fires, not just in Western Australia but right around Australia, is extremely challenging. What happens in an incident control centre during this sort of incident is a response based around real time and constant change. I saw this, given that a large proportion the fires referred to, including the very devastating fires in Waroona, Yarloop and the Shire of Harvey, were, in fact, in my electorate of Forrest. We were at our family farm and watched the fires as they evolved, and constant change was the one thing that we could certainly rely on. Depending on the wind and the weather conditions, there was constant change in the fires.

Consider who in Western Australia manages fires. In actual firefighting, we have the Department of Parks and Wildlife and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services. We also have a whole group of wonderful volunteer brigades and, of course, the people on the ground who are often in that first line: our farmers and locals. In a fire, you always see a whole raft of local farmers, with their fire units on the back of their utes, doing everything they can to deal with the fires, not only those on their own property but also those on their neighbours' properties and elsewhere. We saw significant aerial support. The water bombers and helicopters on one of those days were just like bees over my home, with the number of flights they were doing. I saw my local fire brigades of Yarloop, Cookernup, Harvey, Uduc and the Harvey Hills doing extraordinary things. I have referred to them previously as ordinary people who do extraordinary things. In Western Australia, the government has set up an inquiry to be conducted by the former head of the Country Fire Authority Victoria and the South Australian Country Fire Service, Mr Euan Ferguson, with powers under section 24 of the Public Sector Management Act 1994. It will have similar powers to a royal commission. These are powers to subpoena people to attend and require them to produce documents and give evidence under oath. In this particular inquiry, the terms of reference are to investigate:

(a) The effectiveness of pre-incident bushfire prevention and mitigation activities;

(b) The effectiveness of emergency management plans and procedures;

(c) The effectiveness of the suppression strategies and tactics used during the fire;

(d) The effectiveness of incident management, including coordination of agencies, volunteer fire and emergency services and interstate assistance;

(e) Protection of essential services infrastructure and access to essential services (power, transport, water, communication) by emergency services organisations and the community;

(f) The effectiveness of public messaging including the adequacy and timeliness of emergency warnings issued to residents and visitors;

(g) Effectiveness of assistance to and management of those affected by the fire:

(i) Evacuation procedures

(ii) Communications with the community over the course of the fire

(iii) Provision of welfare support

(iv) Management of people seeking to return to their properties

(h) Livestock and companion animal management and welfare issues.

I have been on the ground talking with so many of my constituents—all of the various levels of emergency management, the local volunteers, each of the groups involved in fighting this fire, and even the local farmers and residents. I would encourage everyone who has experiences and recommendations to offer in relation to those terms of reference to put in a simple submission to this process. Their experiences and what they saw and heard will be a critical part of the findings and of management of future emergencies such as this one.

Debate adjourned.

Sitting suspended from 13:37 to 15:59