Page 3643 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 28 October 2014
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section 72(2), that states something along the lines of: “In the case of any inconsistency, the commissioner and land manager must work together to ensure that environmental values and protection of life and property are balanced as important priorities and activities are complementary to achieve this balance. This must be done through collaboration and coordination across government agencies and land managers.”
Unfortunately, this issue was only raised with us fairly late in the piece. So the minister responsible and I have not had sufficient time to work through relevant processes to investigate the issue further, especially given the interactions with other legislation. If we look further into the issue we may also want to consider whether a further clause could be written which ensures that the commissioner must consider the conservator’s advice if an action proposed in the strategic bushfire management plan conflicts with other plans of management on ecological matters and that this advice must be made publicly available.
I intend to take up this matter and expect that we will discuss it again in this place once we work through the detailed issues. I think that, for today, there is not sufficient time to resolve this matter to an acceptable level of clarity. Apart from the issue of conflicting plans, this bill creates significant clarification of emergency management protocols, and the Greens will be supporting the bill today.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for the Environment and Minister for Capital Metro) (11.22), in reply: We all share responsibility in being prepared as a community to face the challenges that we will inevitably have to address as a consequence of natural disasters and other emergencies. The ACT ESA is continually scanning for innovation and improvements to the way we manage emergencies. The current practice in emergency management has highlighted that there are mutual obligations on both governments and the community to build community resilience in meeting the challenges posed by future disasters and emergencies.
From the government’s perspective, it is critical that our emergency services and all government agencies have a shared understanding of the emergency management arrangements. Having this shared understanding is critical to delivering effective and coordinated emergency response and recovery operations.
From a community perspective, it is critical that our residents understand they share responsibility in taking action to prevent and to prepare for an emergency. Having a shared understanding of how we work together to face the challenges of an emergency and recognising a shared responsibility to work cooperatively and collaboratively ensures we deliver the most effective response and that recovery operations are the best they can be when an emergency or disaster occurs. I am pleased that this amendment bill will build our community’s resilience through these principles of shared understanding and responsibility.
Let me turn to the amendments and explain how they support these goals. There are a number of minor but important amendments to the act. The objects of the act and the commissioner’s functions have been amended to be more inclusive of those persons
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