Page 3931 - Week 11 - Thursday, 26 September 2019
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additional functionality, including GPS tracking, wi-fi and bluetooth connectivity. The new radios have enhanced bushfire operations with ACT crews now able to talk directly with New South Wales crews in local government areas on their frequencies and channels.
The ESA and parks and conservation service personnel regularly provide assistance to other jurisdictions in times of emergencies as part of national and international responses. The rapport established with other jurisdictions in all types of emergencies will assist the ESA in seeking support when faced with any major emergencies of our own in future. So far this year the ACTRFS has not been requested to assist our counterparts on a national or international level. However, RFS remains ready to assist where we can. The experience and lessons learned from previous deployments helps ensure that our own capability is well tested and prepared, and provides invaluable experience to our firefighters and other personnel.
The ACT’s key document for managing the risks of bushfire is the strategic bushfire management plan—SBMP. This document is reviewed every five years and presented to the Assembly. The SBMP provides a planned and measured approach to managing the risk of bushfire in the territory and builds on the experience of previous plans. The first SBMP was developed in 2004. Version 2 was presented to the Assembly in 2009, and version 3 was presented in 2014. These previous versions of the SBMP have underpinned the continuous improvement in bushfire management outcomes for the territory.
It is my pleasure to present version 4 of the SBMP to the Assembly today. I am confident that the SBMP will continue to serve the needs of the community well for the next five years of strategic bushfire management in Canberra.
As I have previously stated, the management of bushfire risk in the territory is a shared responsibility. The ESA adopts a collaborative approach to the management of bushfire risk, with early community engagement and working together with all partners taking action to protect the community.
This latest version of the SBMP builds constructively on the achievements of the last 15 years and will deliver significant improvements in operational practices and overall risk mitigation. It emphasises the factors expected to have an increasing significance in the territory over the life of the plan. This includes the importance of community, bushfire recovery, impacts of climate change, use of technology and data for fire management, and support for ongoing connection to the land by traditional custodians to meet a range of cultural land management objectives.
Bushfires have been part of the natural landscape of south-east Australia for thousands of years and they will continue to occur into the future. Climate change modelling predicts that bushfires will become more severe and more frequent, in line with an increase in the number of high-fire weather days and longer bushfire seasons. A changing climate will impact on all aspects of bushfire risk. I can reassure the Canberra community that our Emergency Services Agency and its critical partners are well placed to respond to a high-level demand on our bushfire response services.
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