Page 75 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 28 February 2007
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and articulated so persuasively in a previous debate by the current Leader of the Opposition, yet to which he seemingly no longer subscribes. Another, of course, is found in the commonwealth government’s guide to key elements of ministerial responsibility, which states:
This does not mean that ministers bear individual liability for all actions of their departments …
… They would properly be held to account for matters for which they were personally responsible, or where they were aware of problems but had not acted to rectify them.
No-one, surely, is suggesting that the Chief Minister take personal responsibility for the fighting of fires; he is clearly not a firefighter. Nor, to my knowledge, has anyone suggested that the Chief Minister was made aware of problems with the manner in which those fires were being fought but failed to act to rectify those problems; nor is it seriously suggested by anyone who understands these things that the Chief Minister ought, off his own bat and in defiance of the expert advice provided to him, have rushed out and warned the people of Canberra of an impending disaster that did not even exist in his own imagination.
Just yesterday the Stanhope Labor government continued its journey in fireproofing this territory when it responded to the coroner’s recommendations. In looking forward, the strategies and initiatives that will flow from this response will build on the four years of intensive work and investment that we have seen since 2003. Over those four years, in response to a number of rigorous inquiries, our approach to fire preparedness and fire management has been revolutionised. A total rethink of communication and warning systems has occurred. As previous speakers have noted, we now spend 40 per cent more on emergency services every year than we did prior to the fires. Householders are now much better informed about how to secure their own properties.
We are now embarking on a fresh round of improvements, in response to the coroner’s recommendations. It is a journey that we will continue to take as a community. Those opposite have the option of joining that journey and making a constructive, positive contribution. It appears they will instead decide to engage in a series of political stunts. They are a policy-free zone and they invite nothing but condemnation.
MRS BURKE (Molonglo) (3.55): At the heart of this motion today is how the Chief Minister saw, heard, remembered or not and/or perceived events and his subsequent leadership on the days leading up to and including the day of the 2003 bushfires, as opposed to the reality of the anger, angst and level of dissatisfaction felt in the community regarding the Chief Minister and his complacency and/or total lack of understanding of the information provided to him.
Today I had intended to outline the enormous loss; the devastation; the pain; the suffering; those valiant volunteers, both men and women, who found themselves in overwhelming situations; and those in the community who did their utmost to protect life during the 2003 bushfires, despite their lack of early warnings. But instead I have been drawn to recent comments made by the Chief Minister which I firmly believe
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