Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Of course, around Australia we know that there are going to be significant bushfires even in New South Wales. Through you, Deputy President: I understand, Senator Williams, for once you are having a decent cropping season.

I say this following a Senate inquiry chaired by my old colleague Senator Bill Heffernan, who we also miss dearly. We had an inquiry following the Black Saturday fires in Victoria in February 2009. Amongst other things, the recommendation of that inquiry was that the Productivity Commission be tasked to see where the Commonwealth government's funds could best be spent in mitigation and reduction of fires, which ultimately are a state and territory responsibility. The Productivity Commission indicated that if the Commonwealth spent its money in prevention and preparation there was a $9 to $1 return to the Australian community, but if the Commonwealth did nothing but wait around for what we call the response and recovery—in other words, waiting for the fires to occur and then trying to be involved in combating them and in recovery afterwards—there was scarcely a $1 for $1 value. The message I want to leave you on that theme is there needs to be far more expenditure in prevention and in preparation rather than in response and recovery.