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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 8 Hansard (20 August) . . Page.. 2892 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

(4) provide suitable recognition to volunteers, emergency services personnel and community groups for their outstanding bravery and service to the community during the disaster;

and censures the Government for:

(5) failing to heed warnings that additional bushfire education was needed in the lead up to the 2002-03 bushfire season;

(6) failing to implement recommendation 95 of the Recommendations of the Debriefs of the 2001 Stromlo Fire; and

(7) telling the Assembly that its bushfire education programs were adequate when they clearly were not.

Mr Speaker, the opposition has moved this motion today in response to a number of serious concerns that are being expressed in the community. The areas that people are particularly concerned about are the new emergency services authority, which the government seems to be so accepting of, an apparent decrease in community services to those affected by the disaster, and the lack of suitable recognition given to volunteers, particularly emergency service personnel, bushfire fighters and community groups for their outstanding bravery and service to the community during the disaster. The motion also censures the government for failing to heed warnings that were given and for telling the Assembly that the bushfire education programs it had in place were adequate when they clearly were not.

Mr Speaker, the issues are diverse and I have limited time in which to debate them, but my colleagues will follow up on each of the issues in more detail. Let me deal with the first issue. This motion calls on the government not to implement their proposed emergency services authority until adequate and real consultation has been undertaken with the community, particularly those who will serve in such an authority.

A meeting the other night of the Volunteer Brigades Association unanimously voted to reject the emergency services authority as proposed by Mr McLeod. Mr Speaker, these are volunteers. These are the men and women of the emergency services, in particular the volunteer bushfire brigades, who are at the coalface when tragedies strike, and they have said they do not want to see the model that is proposed by McLeod, the model that the government seems to be so accepting of. That is why it is so important that consultation takes place.

As Mr Pratt just said in the previous debate, the opposition would be quite pleased to take part in Ms Tucker's proposed round table on this issue. But we have already been conducting our own consultation and have already come up with a model that we think reflects the needs of the urban firefighters, the rural bushfire fighters and the emergency services personnel. It is an important issue about evolving forward, coming away from the Emergency Services Bureau model and moving on to a model that much better suits the needs of the people of Canberra.

Mr Speaker, the second issue is to make sure that those in the community who have been affected by the bushfire disaster get the appropriate services that they need. At this stage it would appear that the government is decreasing rather than increasing

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