Page 3399 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 18 September 2013
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lightning strikes in Namadgi national park, and we knew we only had about 48 hours before a very dangerous north-westerly wind change and elevated very high temperature conditions arrived. If those fires were not extinguished, we had every reason to believe they would spread and become a major fire heading towards the western interface of the ACT.
Because of the dedicated work of our fire and other emergency services, both paid and volunteer personnel, we were able to extinguish those fires using some of the technologies that this government has invested in since 2003—mechanisms like automatic lightning detection so that we know where lightning hits the ground and we can send the crews to a precise location to ensure that if there has been an ignition it is able to be rapidly addressed. We saw the deployment of remote area firefighting teams and a dedicated capability now in place because of the investments this government made after the 2003 fires. We also saw vehicles and crews on the ground responding with the appropriate weight of response for the significance of the event. The fires were put out. The ignitions were dealt with, and they were dealt with before those very dangerous high fire danger conditions arrived.
Actions speak louder than words, Mr Assistant Speaker. I think that tells us everything we need to know about the lessons we have learnt since 2003.
The Auditor-General made 24 recommendations in the performance audit report on the ACT’s bushfire preparedness. The directorate agreed or agreed in part to all of those recommendations, and the details of these responses are stated in the audit report. The audit report identified “some areas of improvement”, which my directorate will address in consultation and cooperation with other ACT government agencies.
Turning to the strategic bushfire management plan itself, version 2 of the plan was released in October 2009. The development of version 2 included consideration of the interim findings of the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, the coronial inquiry into the 2003 Canberra firestorm and the national framework for scaled bushfire advice and bushfire warnings released in 2009. The plan identifies a wide range of activities for bushfire prevention, preparedness, response and recovery, which required additional funding to undertake key programs identified in the plan. The ESA and the government as a whole continue to implement the strategies in the SBMP.
Further, under the Emergencies Act some land managers are required to prepare bushfire operational plans that are consistent with the policies and strategies in the SBMP. These plans identify the detailed actions, such as hazard reduction, trail maintenance and grazing, that land managers must undertake to meet bushfire management requirements.
I am pleased to advise members of the Assembly that work on the review and development of the new SBMP version 3 has commenced in compliance with section 80 of the act, which states that I, as the minister, must, in consultation with the ACT Bushfire Council, comprehensively review the plan at intervals of not more than five years. Version 3 of the plan is anticipated to be completed by the end of October 2014.
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