Page 177 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 15 February 2006
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So tell me, Mr Pratt, do you also think that declaring a total fire ban means no fires will start and that the bushfire abatement zone means that fires know when to stop? Of course not, and it is irresponsible to be raising fear in our community by suggesting to people that if the grass were shorter their homes would not be in danger. What would have been more responsible, Mr Pratt, if you were committed to sending a letter to all residents, was to give them some helpful advice on what they could be doing to protect their homes. In a letter headed “Letter to residents in Bushfire Vulnerable Suburbs”—the one I have is to Kambah residents—he says that he is writing:
… to inform you that I believe that the grassland bushfire threat in your suburb is quite serious and I am concerned that this problem is replicated in many places right along the urban/bush interface.
He acknowledges that “this year we are better prepared for bushfire than we have been for some years”. He goes on to say:
… but I believe there are also many dangerous pockets of long grass in areas vulnerable to bushfire and regrettably, I believe, your suburban/bush edge is one of these.
That is an incredible state of scaremongering. On the Canberra Liberals website he says:
I have letterboxed a number of suburbs across Canberra about fire fuel load and many have written back or contacted me expressing similar concerns and have even suggested how the situation can be improved.
He does not say that he actually put fear into their heads in the first place through this letter. Mr Speaker, I seek leave to table these two pieces of paper.
Leave granted.
MR HARGREAVES: I table the following papers:
Long grass in Canberra region—
Extract from Canberra Liberals webpage—News, 15 February 2006.
Letter from Mr Pratt to residents in bushfire vulnerable suburbs.
Mr Pratt: That’s rubbish.
MR HARGREAVES: I did not write them. You wrote them. So if it is rubbish, you can take responsibility for the rubbish.
Ensuring the safety of communities from the threat of bushfire is a complex task and there is no single, simple solution to it. It is critical to ensure that the community is educated and resilient to bushfires and that people know what to do when bushfires occur. The government has put in place a range of strategies to ensure that homeowners are more aware and more resilient to the impact of fires. The government has instituted the all hazards warning system that provides a staged process to warn the public of
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