Page 4807 - Week 16 - Thursday, 29 November 1990
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MR STEVENSON (12.02): Many different viewpoints have been put during this debate. I thought it would be worthwhile to look at what we could agree on or what we know. We know that current legislation has existed for 50 years; there is no disagreement there. We know that the Bush Fire Council has operated as a community based organisation for some 50 years; there is no disagreement there. The council draws in various organisations - the volunteer bush fire brigades, the CSIRO Bushfire Research Unit, the conservation foundation, the national parks and wildlife services, and so on; there is no disagreement there. We know that the proposed legislation does not align with existing legislation in the States; there is no disagreement there.
We were told by Mr Jensen, I believe it was, that soon all the States could follow suit if this legislation is passed. We do not know that. We cannot say that it is something that we know. We know that the Bill will remove power from the Bush Fire Council and place it with the Minister. There is no disagreement with that either. That is exactly what it does. Something that we may know, if Mr Kaine would give an indication, Mr Speaker, is that he and the Liberal Party supported the principle of immunity some two years ago.
Mr Kaine: Indemnity.
MR STEVENSON: Indemnity, not immunity.
Mr Kaine: That was what was put to me, and that is what I agreed to.
MR STEVENSON: I was just checking. We do not know that. We know that this Bill, if passed, would accept, on behalf of the people of the ACT, a liability that could be absolutely horrendous.
Mr Duby: No, that is not true.
MR STEVENSON: It is not? We cannot tell what the liability is; no-one can put a figure on any limit to the liability, so it must be unlimited to some degree. I think we have to say that we do not know the limit.
Mr Collaery: But you have to prove negligence.
MR STEVENSON: That is all very well, but once again you cannot say that any particular limit can be placed on this. One thing which we also know and with which nobody will disagree is that the ACT Volunteer Bush Fire Brigades Association, whose president wrote to us, has serious concerns about this legislation. I think its concerns should be well heeded. Mr Duby assured the house that they had been looked at and that most of them were minor. Some of the suggestions do not seem minor at all. One of them is that the Minister should have the responsibility. That is an absolute major shift in responsibility. The
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