Page 316 - Week 01 - Thursday, 16 February 2006

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(2) Why was the answer dated 22 November 2005 by the Minister, but not received by the Assembly Secretariat until 12 December, approximately three weeks later.

Mr Hargreaves: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:

(1) Since January 1 2005, the ESA has received a total of 50 Questions on Notice. Many of these were complex and contained multiple sub-questions. Tallying the sub-questions within all of the Questions on Notice, the ESA has answered a total of 390 questions, or an average of 28 questions per sitting week.

The information requested in Question on Notice 534 was complex, containing a total of 63 sub-questions, and required detailed research of financial and other records. The question came at a time when the ESA’s workload was substantial and also coincided with positional changes within the office responsible for co-ordinating the response as well as the area specifically responsible for providing information in response to the question.

(2) Due to the sheer volume of questions to which the ESA has had to respond, the response to Question on Notice 534 was misplaced amongst other documents, resulting in the delay between the date of signature and date received by the Secretariat and I apologise for the delayed response to that question.

Emergency Services Authority—volunteers
(Question No 836)

Mr Pratt asked the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, upon notice, on 15 December 2005:

(1) Further to a letter to the editor by the Emergency Services Authority (ESA) Commissioner entitled “Inaccurate criticism detracts from effort by SES volunteers” in The Canberra Times, 13 December 2005, page 12, what is the longest amount of time that volunteers had to wait for a meal during the storm cleanup, how many SES members had to wait this long to receive meals and why;

(2) Of the various equipment that was hired, (a) what equipment was hired, (b) why was the equipment hired, (c) when was it hired, (d) from where was it hired, (e) for how long was it hired, (f) how much did it cost to hire and (g) did any equipment need to be paid for up front; if so, who paid for the equipment and were these costs reimbursed to volunteers;

(3) How many (a) chain saws, (b) elevated work platforms/’cherry pickers’, (c) leaf blowers (petrol or electric), (d) helmets, (e) ladders, (f) harnesses, (g) protective eye wear (goggles) and (h) chain saw chaps are (i) available for operational duties, (ii) available as a backup resource and (iii) owned by the ESA or its agencies.

Mr Hargreaves: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:

(1) Up to two hours. Of the 204 SES members involved in storm damage operations, 17 members were affected by these short delays.

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