Page 3312 - Week 10 - Thursday, 19 October 2006
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It is the ESA and JACS which now hold the purse strings and will micromanage Michael Ross and his volunteer agencies. That is why we have this parlous state with a vehicle fleet that is not in good shape. It is because people like Michael Ross and his captains have not had the ability or the independence to make the decisions they needed to make quickly with the backup of the government and the backup of this minister to get those assets ready in time for this bushfire season. That is where you fail, minister. That is where this government has failed.
Why, through the winter months approaching this bushfire season, did you not know that 40 per cent of your first line responder bushfire fighting vehicles were either too old, off line or perhaps classified by some micromanaged OH&S system as to be unserviceable for the fire ground should the fire ground come about? Why did you not know that? Why did your departments not check those fleets in these closing winter months?
Why are the two tankers now being back loaded to Sydney in October for stress fracture repairs of their springs when those conditions were known for a minimum of eight weeks? For a minimum of two months your people knew that those trucks were unserviceable. Why were they not back loaded in August or September? Why did we wait until October—13 days into the bushfire season—to make the decision to take valuable assets off line? The community needs those assets and your volunteers need those assets. You did not think about it. Did you inspect the fleet, minister? Did you have any idea?
Mr Corbell: Yes. I went out there and inspected every vehicle. I got into my overalls and climbed underneath.
MR PRATT: You are not expected to know, minister, whether the left front tyre of Gungahlin 10 is flat, but you should damn well know if 15, 20, 25, 30 or 40 per cent of the first response vehicle fleet is off line. You should know that. You should know whether a major proportion of your capability is off line. Why do you not know? It is because you have not scrutinised your public servants. You have not scrutinised your departments. Get out, mate, and have a look.
The ongoing delays with the implementation of the communications systems is another reason why you and your capabilities are not ready for this bushfire season. We have spent somewhere in the vicinity of $23.6 million. At least that is the amount of money that was acquired in 2003-04.
Mr Stanhope: More than your entire budget, including the ESA.
MR PRATT: That is irrelevant. That is a good amount of money, but if you do not spend it wisely and if you do not target it properly on affordable communications systems and make sure that you use the right people to put those systems in place in time, then you are throwing good money after bad. That is what you have done.
About $15 million of that was acquired for the trunk radio network—your primary voice radio command network. That should have been fully on line and operational by now, but there are still problems. Of course there are going to be gaps in the system down in Namadgi with the rough terrain. That is why you were supposed to be erecting
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