Page 89 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 28 February 2007
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella) (4.42): Today I would like to speak in support of the Chief Minister in his handling of the 2003 bushfire event. I will not be supporting the motion or the amendment.
Those devastating fires were one of the worst natural disasters this country has ever seen. They resulted in the death of four Canberra citizens, as well as significant losses to both private and public property and infrastructure, including the loss of 500 homes. Given this level of devastation to the health and safety of Canberrans, it was appropriate that Coroner Maria Doogan carried out a full investigation into this horrific natural disaster.
However, I regret to say that there have been some serious inaccuracies and unsubstantiated comments relating to the actions and responsibilities of cabinet and Chief Minister Jon Stanhope. Many of the coroner’s comments in the report were never put to the Chief Minister or other ministers during the inquest. This meant that the Chief Minister was not able to rebut those comments and provide evidence to the contrary.
There are some misinformed comments in the report, most notably comments relating to the briefing of Thursday, 16 January that cabinet generally, and the Chief Minister in particular, knew that a potential disaster was on Canberra’s doorstep but did nothing to ensure that the Canberra community were warned promptly and effectively. That statement, we have heard, is a gross misinterpretation of what was said. The Chief Minister has denied this was the case and I wholeheartedly believe that to be the truth.
The fact that two other ministers who were present at the 16 January meeting went on leave on 17 January is evidence that the advice provided by the Emergency Services Bureau did not provide information foreseeing the potential danger that the fires caused on 18 January. It is nonsensical to suggest that if the ministers knew of the potential danger they would have taken leave at this crucial time. This morning we heard from Minister Corbell his personal account of the morning of the 18th. No-one would believe that any father would leave their family in that situation if they had that knowledge.
Further, the cabinet briefing papers of 16 January did not contain a warning that the fires would engulf Canberra suburbs. Clearly, not even the ESB knew of the extent of the potential disaster that took place on 18 January 2003. They were engaged in doing their best to fight the fires. However, they did not foresee what followed. If the Chief Minister and ministers had been given such advice, I have utter confidence that they would have acted appropriately on that information and averted, as much as they possibly could have, the disaster that resulted.
The coroner’s selective use of evidence given in the inquiry gives the wrong impression of what exactly the Chief Minister knew and when he was informed. This is exemplified by the use of the radio interview transcript from which the coroner quoted in the report. The report states that the Chief Minister played down the severity of the situation. The quotation from the ABC interview gives the erroneous impression that the Chief Minister misled the public about the seriousness of the fires.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .