Page 3893 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 30 November 2021
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unavailable, as happened at critical moments during the fires of 2019-20. Of course, social media is a key form of communication accessed by most people, whether it is Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or others that become popular. We particularly welcome these changes.
In our consultations with the community, a number of concerns were raised, the main one being the make-up of the proposed new advisory council, and the possibility of diluting the advice that the minister will receive, with bushfires being the main threat here in Canberra.
The other concern was how many people would be on the council and what would their qualifications to serve on it be. There is very little detail concerning this in the legislation, the minister’s speech or the explanatory statement. It would appear that much of this detail will be left to be included in the terms of reference. When the opposition asked for clarification, no further information from the minister was forthcoming, other than to reiterate that these matters would be addressed in the terms of reference.
It would appear to vest a significant reliance on the minister in this matter. The Canberra Liberals recognise that this change was in response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements. We look forward to reading the terms of reference to see how they incorporate the further recommendations of this report.
Apps such as Fires Near Me were used extensively during the bushfires. The report to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services on ACT government coordination and response during the 2019-20 bushfire season showed that many people in and around the ACT downloaded and accessed the New South Wales app. It was positive to read that this was in fact encouraged by the ESA and that the ESA had partnered with the New South Wales RFS to enable the ACT alerts to appear on their platform. It is useful as the smoke from New South Wales fires is likely to have significant impacts on residents in the ACT. Since many ACT residents are on the border with New South Wales, have family in New South Wales, and work in or travel frequently to New South Wales, it is important that this relationship continues.
The creation of a purpose-built app for the ACT seems unnecessary and would require people to have multiple apps on their devices. It would appear to be common sense to have just one for this entire area.
Whilst it is not reflected in this bill, it is hoped that the minister will also follow the recommendations in this report to continue to explore the options to improve the functionality of, and relationship with, the New South Wales RFS Fires Near Me with respect to ACT-specific information. This should preferably occur before the next bushfire season.
On our second point, we see in other states, such as Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia, a stronger engagement with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and their cultural burning practices. It would be good to see a greater and more rigorous commitment to adopting more of these Indigenous practices
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