Page 4063 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 16 Sept 2009
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Minister, why has the ACT decided not to adopt the warning system that has been developed in Western Australia and which has been subject to successful trials in that state?
MR CORBELL: This has been a matter of some significant discussion amongst all states and territories about which system should be adopted. What has been decided is that the states and territories will seek procurement of a system, and that system will get access to the national telephone database, which is held by Telstra.
The Western Australian government has, for a number of years now, had its own system. It would appear that the way that system operates access to the telephone database works differently from the arrangements that would be available through a national approach. For that reason, we—and by that I mean every other state or territory—believe that we should adopt a system based on the procurement process being undertaken by Victoria and that the Western Australian model is not sufficient to meet the needs of the other states and territories.
MR SPEAKER: Mr Doszpot, a supplementary question?
MR DOSZPOT: Minister, have you left the national warning system “in the hands of the Victorian government” when the coroner’s report into the 2003 bushfire disaster, in December 2006, recommended that this action should be taken?
MR CORBELL: I think the coroner’s report recommended that this issue be investigated, and that is what the government has done. It is highly ironic to get this criticism from the Liberal Party. The reason for that is that this matter was discussed at the police ministers council and emergency services ministers council for the last three to four years. And what was the reason that it did not proceed earlier? It was because the then commonwealth government refused to provide access to the integrated telephone database held by Telstra. They refused to pass legislation in the commonwealth parliament to allow access to the integrated telephone database. That is why this system has not been implemented earlier. And it took the Victorian bushfires for the commonwealth parliament to finally agree to pass legislation to allow access to the integrated telephone database. Let us make it clear: a telephone warning system only works if you have—
Mr Doszpot: Six years ago, Simon.
Mr Hanson: So was it Conroy?
MR CORBELL: They are not interested in hearing this, Mr Speaker. But this is the key issue, and this has been the key issue for many years now: without accessing the central telephone database which is controlled by Telstra, you cannot have a telephone warning system of adequate size and scale. The commonwealth government, the previous Howard Liberal government, refused to legislate to allow the states and territories to access that database and refused to legislate to allow Telstra to provide that information to the states and territories. So perhaps the Liberal Party should look in their own backyard before they start making those sorts of absurd accusations.
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