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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 10 Hansard (25 September) . . Page.. 3782 ..
Emergency management plan
(Question No 844)
Mr Pratt asked the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, upon notice, on Wednesday, 20 August 2003:
In relation to the ACT Emergency Management Plan:
(1) When was the ACT Emergency Management Plan last revisited;
(2) Were the lessons of the December 2001 bushfires taken into consideration and written into a revision of the Plan;
(3) Was the execution of the ACT's emergency response to the 8 January 2003 bushfire outbreak and the subsequent fighting of the fire through to, and beyond, 18 January 2003, in accordance with the requirements of the ACT Emergency Management Plan;
(4) Were the bushfire preventative measures laid down in the ACT Emergency Management Plan adhered to in the year leading up to 18 January 2003.
Mr Wood
: The answer to the member's question is as follows:(1) The ACT Emergency Plan was last formally revised in the year 2000 as part of the preparations for the Olympic Games in Sydney but the Emergency Management Committee (EMC) meets every six weeks and does review updates from time to time. Some aspects of the Plan were being revised following the 2001 fires, most notably the updating of the media annex. This was being revised to reflect the broader community information requirements prior to the 2003 fires.
(2) An EMC action list, incorporating 24 items, was developed following the December 2001 bushfires. This action list is monitored and updated at every EMC meeting and the majority of the action items are now completed. The outstanding issues are being progressed at present.
(3) The 2003 fires were fought in accordance with primarily the Bushfire Act 1936 but then on the Declaration of the Emergency the arrangements were under the Emergency Management Act 1999. The McLeod Inquiry Report had identified a number of areas for review of the Emergency Management Act 1999 as a result of the fires.
(4) There are no bushfire preventative matters in the ACT Emergency Plan. The Plan is an overarching "all hazards, all agencies"outlined coordination plan for response to emergency events, and does not include preventative measures for specific hazards. The Bushfire Fuel Management Plan outlines the fuel management preventative measures and various community events did contain advice on the then impending severity of the 2002/03 season.
Home and community care funding
(Question No 848)
Mr Cornwell asked the Minister for Health, upon notice:
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