Page 2754 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 12 August 2015
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administrative control, but the service chiefs should be empowered to conduct operations as they know best. That is what should happen. That is not an unreasonable request. Part (2)(b) says:
(b) make redundant the role of the Commissioner with amendments to the Emergencies Act 2004 with new arrangements including the Chief Police Officer to be made Emergency Controller.
There has been discussion within a lot of groups over the last decade about the best place for this to be, and the people I have spoken to have come to the conclusion that, on the day of a significant emergency, all resources are brought to bear, that it is the interface and relationship with the police which is particularly important, and it is the police that normally have the powers to block roads and to prevent people from going into dangerous areas.
Most people that I have spoken to about it over the last decade seem to think that the best way would be to go back to having the Chief Police Officer as the emergency controller, with perhaps some delegation power depending on the nature of the emergency. That is what part (2)(b) asks the government to do. We are simply calling on the government to set up a stat authority and to make the changes to the act.
Mr Barr was sounding off about the emergency services levy during question time, saying that everybody wants the best service we can get. That is what we all want. Now, with this letter to the minister from the UFU, it is quite clear that these matters have come to a head. There seems to be a growing level of bureaucracy surrounding the position of the commissioner whereby the deputy chief officers of each of the services now have other functions. I am not sure how you split those and say that the deputy chief officers will always be up to speed on what is going on in their primary area. You cannot serve two masters. That model has always been shown to be flawed, and it has always been shown to fail. The union makes it quite clear. They call on—and I quote:
… Joy Burch to provide leadership and halt the return to dangerous structures and practices currently being hotly pursued by JACS and by the ESA.
It is not an unreasonable request. My expectation is that it will be revenue neutral. All of the administration has already been paid for at some point at this stage, so all of those funds can be appropriated directly to an ESA authority. So there should not be any additional cost. In fact I expect it may produce a saving, because much of the admin work is already carried out in ESA, and people tell me that there is not a great call on the services of JACS, yet of course the overheads are apportioned across the whole portfolio.
It is important that we get this right. It is important that we make these decisions now. It is important that we get ready. The coming fire season could be particularly hazardous given all the rain we have had throughout the winter. If the dry turns up as it used to do—those who have lived here for a long time know Canberra had wet winters and long dry summers—if that occurs this year then there is the potential, as there always is, for a disastrous bushfire season. But it is not just about bushfire; it is about Fire & Rescue, it is about the ambulance officers, it is about the State
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