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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 1 Hansard (18 February) . . Page.. 81 ..

MR STANHOPE: I require some specificity from the Leader of the Opposition. Chronology of the events around what-around the fire, around my movements for the day, around the movements of the ACT fire officer, Peter Lucas-Smith?

Mr Smyth: What happened with the fire?

MR STANHOPE: You asked for a chronology of events on that day. An awful lot of things happened on that day to an awful lot of people. Your question was: "Can the Chief Minister give a chronology of events on the day?"

Mr Hargreaves: What did you have for breakfast?

MR STANHOPE: Yes, what did I have for breakfast? I cannot answer a question like that. If the Leader of the Opposition gives me some specificity around the chronology of what, I would be more than happy to take the question on notice.

MR SMYTH: It is unfortunate, Mr Speaker. I warned the Chief Minister's office of the question so that he could prepare. If you want to take the question on notice, that is fine. Could you give us a chronology of the growth of the fire on the day-for instance, when it got to Tidbinbilla, when it got to the Cotter, when it got to Duffy? Many people are asking questions about where the fire got to at what point in the day, and they would like answers.

MR STANHOPE: I am more than happy to ask the Emergency Services Bureau for a chronology of the fire's progress during the day. I do not know the extent to which they have a detailed chronology. I am happy to provide a chronology in relation to all four fires, to the extent that it is available.

If the question is: "What was the progress of the fire?"and "Do we have times and milestones in relation to its progress?"I am more than happy to see what we can do. But I do not know the extent or the degree to which that information has been compiled at this stage. The fire was burning on a 70-kilometre front and comprised four separate fires. I am more than happy to see what we can do in developing a chronology. It will be part and parcel of submissions that will be made by ACT fire services and the Emergency Services Bureau to the two major inquiries-the inquiry into the Emergency Services Bureau, its response, and all other agencies involved with the fire and bushfire issues in the ACT, as well as the judicially based coronial inquest. Every one of these issues will be the subject of those major inquiries. We need to be mindful of the fact that a coronial inquest into each of the four deaths and each of the fires is under way.

Bushfires

MR HARGREAVES: My question is to the Chief Minister. All members are only too aware of the death and destruction inflicted on the Canberra community by the 18 January firestorm. To its credit, the government responded quickly to the development of a committed recovery strategy. As I have travelled around my electorate since, many people have come up to me and commended me on the speed and strength with which the government reacted. Can the Chief Minister please outline to the Assembly what steps the government has taken in the implementation of a recovery strategy?

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