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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 1 Hansard (19 February) . . Page.. 190 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

Another particularly good inquiry was that by Coroner Somes into a death in custody at Quamby and a couple of deaths at the Remand Centre. That coronial inquest unearthed publicly, under privilege, problems in those institutions. I have said before that we had some inkling of staffing problems at Quamby, but there was no way under the industrial relations laws of this territory that some of the staff could have been got rid of. That coronial inquiry came up with some good conclusions. It was a bad way for it to happen, but it did enable significant staff changes at Quamby which I think have been very beneficial. Good though that coronial inquest was, it did not uncover a number of issues that other inquiries did. The problems at Quamby and the Remand Centre were not of the same magnitude as the fire. As I said, the fire is the greatest single disaster to hit this territory.

The three deaths which led to the Gallop inquiry were quite disastrous, with a lot of personal ramifications, but again were not of the same magnitude as the fire. Yet we did have a full inquiry under the Inquiries Act. That is a very good precedent.

It is crucially important that the inquiry into the fire be done properly and that witnesses be afforded all the privileges they would have if they were in front of the Coroners Court. The only way to go is to accept Mr Smyth's motion. Everyone in this house wants to ensure that we look at this matter thoroughly.

If there have been problems with things the previous government did or did not do, so be it. Let it come out. If there are problems with what the Follett government did or did not do, so be it. Let it come out. If there are problems with what the current government did or did not do, so be it. Let it come out.

We owe it to our community to have a most thorough inquiry. There will be a very good coronial inquest, I have absolutely no doubt. But we also need to cover all the bases through the inquiry Mr Smyth has proposed, with its very sensible timeframes for the various parts of the inquiry.

MR WOOD (Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, Minister for Urban Services, Minister for Arts and Heritage and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (4.41): We all know that the fires that impacted so disastrously on us were caused by lightning strikes. The three in Canberra and the fire at McIntyres Hut forest were caused by lightning strikes. As has been reported in the press and on television news, the fires in fact from just north of Canberra to pretty well nearly Melbourne were caused by lightning strikes. So it should go without saying that these fires were caused by lightning strikes. But, no, it doesn't go without saying, and that is how thorough the coroner's inquiry is going to be. I understand that there is no assumption there that lightning caused these fires.

I understand that experts are trying to find, if possible, the site of the fires, and if the cause was lightning they might well be able to do so. That is how thorough things will be. Mr Smyth's motion does not say that-it does not say that there should be a investigation into how the fires started. So I make the point that members can be confident that these inquiries, and the coroner's inquiry in particular, will be absolutely meticulous. Members should have no anxiety about that.

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