Page 1837 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 22 August 2007
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It is wrong of the opposition to perpetuate the idea that there is now no adequate communication infrastructure in place for our emergency services. There is. First and foremost, the trunked radio network—TRN, the new digital radio—is performing extremely well. The same reviews that concluded that FireLink was unsuitable for the ESA’s needs have concluded that TRN has been a very effective activity and implementation project. TRN provides us with high quality digital radio coverage across the urban and a large part of the non-urban area of the ACT, and we will achieve full coverage across the non-urban areas of the ACT once additional work is done on coverage through a number of towers in the southern areas of the ACT.
Further, we have upgraded the existing computer-aided dispatch. Computer-aided dispatch is now being used via the new computer-aided dispatch system provided by the technology provider, Fujitsu. It is being used by the ACT Fire Brigade and the ACT Ambulance Service. It is a modern, state-of-the art system similar to one being used by some 50 fire and ambulance services across the United Kingdom. We will be exploring the option that Mr Pratt highlighted of using computer-aided dispatch for the RFS and SES as well. As Mr Pratt highlights, there are certainly some efficiencies in doing so in terms of cost of deployment of that system. That is something that we will be exploring; it is being done now, in fact, as a matter of urgency.
That does not mean that our emergency services are not properly protected for this coming bushfire season. It is important to note that Mr Pratt has not identified when the bushfire season properly starts. The bushfire season commences on 1 October, not 1 November; that is the statutory date in the Emergencies Act. I draw Mr Pratt’s attention to his oversight.
For this fire season, we will use the existing CAD system to manually enter into the CAD the location of RFS and SES vehicles. We will also use manual tracking of those vehicles through mapping to identify where vehicles are. This system obviously works well in many jurisdictions, works well for individual incidents and can work for us for this season, but it is not the long-term solution. The long-term solution is the potential use of CAD, and that is being developed at this time.
The government took the responsible course of action when these matters were brought to its attention. When it was clear, when the ESA provided appropriate advice, that there were problems with the FireLink system—with the ESA’s management of it, with the implementation of it and with the ongoing maintenance of it—the government took action. I am grateful for the support and the work of the current commissioner, Mr Manson, who has shouldered a significant burden in addressing some of the legacies left by previous management. He is working through those matters systematically and comprehensively; we are ticking them off and we are getting them right. Whether it is issues around the relationship between volunteers and management, issues around this technology or issues around the headquarters, we are ticking them off and we are getting them right. That is what the ACT community expects. It is a matter of real regret, frustration and anger for me that this money has, in effect, been wasted—and I am on the public record as saying so.
When you establish an independent statutory authority, statutory officers need to take responsibility for their actions and their decisions. I am confident that when shortly
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