FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES (REVIEW) AMENDMENT BILL

Final Stages

The Legislative Council agreed to the bill with the amendments indicated by the following schedule, to which amendments the Legislative Council desires the concurrence of the House of Assembly:

No. Clause 6, page 5, line 17 [clause 6, inserted section 4A(3)(d)]—Delete paragraph (d) and substitute:

(d) any council whose area would be, or is, within the designated urban bushfire risk area.

No. Clause 6, page 5, line 18 [clause 6, inserted section 4A(4)]—Delete 'the LGA' and substitute:

a council

No. Clause 23, page 17, after line 6 [clause 23, inserted section 73]—Insert:

(2a) The primary purpose of the plan is to identify major bushfire risks in the State and recommend appropriate action that will provide protection to life, property and the environment from the effects of bushfires.

No. Clause 35, page 23, after line 26 [clause 35, inserted section 105B]—Insert:

(4) A Chief Officer may, on application by a council, exempt the council from the requirement to appoint a fire prevention officer under this section.

No. Clause 35, page 24, after line 15 [clause 35, inserted section 105D]—Insert:

(4) If a fire prevention officer delegates a function or power under this section, he or she must report that fact to the council.

No. Clause 35, page 24, lines 20 to 25 [clause 35, inserted section 105E]—

Delete 'notice to a fire prevention officer, require the fire prevention officer to provide to the Commission, the State Bushfire Coordination Committee or the bushfire management committee within a period stated in the notice or at stated intervals, any report or reports relating to the performance, exercise or discharge of the fire prevention officer's functions, powers or responsibilities,' and substitute:

notice, require the council to provide to the Commission, the State Bushfire Coordination Committee or the bushfire management committee (within a period stated in the notice or at stated intervals) any report or reports relating to the performance, exercise or discharge of the functions, powers or responsibilities of the fire prevention officer or officers (if any) for the council's area,

No. Clause 35, page 24, after line 33 [clause 35, inserted section 105F(1)]—After paragraph (c) insert:

and

(d) to minimise the threat to human life from a fire on the land.

No. Clause 35, page 26, after line 37 [clause 35, inserted section 105G(1)]—After paragraph (e) insert:

and

(f) to minimise the threat to human life from a fire on the land.

No. Clause 35, page 28, after line 2 [clause 35, inserted section 105H(1)]—After paragraph (e) insert:

and

(f) to minimise the threat to human life from a fire on the land.

No. Clause 35, page 28, after line 33—Insert:

105HA—Commonwealth land

(1) If in the opinion of the relevant Chief Officer conditions existing on Commonwealth land—

(a) in the country; or

(b) in a designated urban bushfire risk area,

present an undue risk to surrounding land (not being Commonwealth land) in the event of a bushfire on (or passing through) the Commonwealth land, the relevant Chief Officer must take reasonable steps to notify the person apparently in control of the Commonwealth land of the risk and the reasons for his or her opinion (and may provide advice as to the action that, in the opinion of the Chief Officer, should be taken in view of the risk).

(2) In this section—

Commonwealth land means land occupied by the Commonwealth (including the Crown in right of the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth Minister), or by an agency or instrumentality of the Crown;

relevant Chief Officer, in relation to particular land, means—

(a) if the land is within a fire district—the Chief Officer of SAMFS;

(b) if the land is outside a fire district—the Chief Officer of SACFS.

No. Clause 38, page 32, after line 7—Insert:

(7) A regulation may only be made under Part 4 Divisions 7 and 8, and Part 4A, on the recommendation of the Minister.

(8) Before making a recommendation under subsection (7), the Minister must—

(a) give written notice of the proposed regulations to the LGA; and

(b) give consideration to any submission made by the LGA in relation to proposed regulations within the period specified in the notice (being a period of not less than 6 weeks).

No. Clause 39, page 32, lines 8 and 9—Leave out this clause and substitute:

39—Amendment of section 149—Review of Act

(1) Section 149(1)—delete subsection (1) and substitute:

(1) The Minister must cause a review of the operation of this Act to be conducted.

(1a) The review must relate to the period between the commencement of the Fire and Emergency Services (Review) Amendment Act 2009 and 30 March 2013.

(2) Section 149(3) and (4)—delete subsections (3) and (4) and substitute:

(3) The review must be commenced as soon as is reasonably practicable after 30 March 2013 and the report must be submitted to the Minister by 30 September 2013.

Consideration in committee.

Amendments Nos 1 to 10:

The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT: I move:

That the Legislative Council’s amendments Nos1 to 10 be agreed to.

Motion carried.

Amendment No. 11:

The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT: I move:

That the Legislative Council’s amendment No. 11 be disagreed to.

This issue was not raised in the House of Assembly when the bill was first debated. This amendment was moved by the Hon. Robert Brokenshire at the behest of the LGA. In essence, it asks for six weeks' consultation in relation to the regulations. The government cannot accept that.

As members on both sides of the house would be aware the fire danger season will commence on or about 1 November; that is the advice we have received thus far from the CFS. That could change from area to area, depending on weather conditions. It is critical that this legislation is in place on 1 November. If we were to accept this amendment, obviously the legislation would not be in operation on 1 November.

I assure the committee—and I have already assured the LGA—that we will consult with the LGA in regard to the regulations. I gave that assurance when I met with the LGA two or three weeks ago. We contacted the LGA this afternoon to reiterate that point. We support the principle of consultation, which is an important element of the regulation-making process. The six weeks' consultation period should not be accepted by the committee—and I would hope it is not.

If it is returned to the Legislative Council, I hope members of the Legislative Council would be mindful of the advice that I have been given by both CFS and SAFECOM; that is, that a six week consultation period would simply run us past the commencement of the fire danger season.

The regulations, which will be drafted next week and which will be available to the LGA and other interested parties in the week after that, will not be overly cumbersome. It is not as if we will be dealing with a complicated set of regulations that will require us to meet week after week to negotiate a position.

As is our responsibility, we will sit down with the LGA and other interested parties to ensure that we go through this carefully and properly. We estimate that it would probably take about two weeks and, beyond consultation, it may require some changes to the regulations. Once those changes are made, they would come back to me to be taken to cabinet.

For a variety of reasons it is important that we not support this amendment. It is imperative that the legislation and the regulations are in place by the start of the fire danger season. A six week consultation process will simply not make that possible.

Mr GOLDSWORTHY: Given the comments of the minister in relation to this amendment, the opposition understands the argument put forward by the minister. We are of the same opinion; that is, we would not wish to delay the legislation as it relates to the start of the prescribed bushfire season. I remind the minister and the government that it is very important that proper consultation is undertaken on these issues with the LGA and other related organisations and stakeholders.

I take the minister at his word that he will engage in meaningful consultation in relation to framing regulations and working through that process. We have that on the record, and if it does not occur then it is the responsibility of the minister and the government. The opposition is willing to support the government's position in relation to this amendment.

Ms CHAPMAN: The Fire and Emergency Services (Review) Amendment Bill returns from another place with some helpful amendments. As our shadow minister has indicated, we will be supporting the government's position, and I anticipate that the minister will advise the house that he will support amendment No. 12. For the good reason explained by the minister, only amendment No. 11 is not acceptable to the government, and we accept the indication that the regulations will be available for consultation within a week and can be reviewed before 1 November.

The only contribution I want to make to the committee in relation to this bill in its final stages is to say that we have only five weeks before the opening of the danger period for South Australia. We set that date for good reason, and the expectation is that, prior to 1 November, we will not just restructure things, as proposed by this bill, and that we will not just start to impose on both public and private landowners that they do certain things but that we will action it.

It was very disturbing to me this week to read a full-page story in the Adelaide Hills Messenger paper of a concern expressed by the Mayor of Mitcham that, in the council's view, there had been inadequate provision by the natural resources management board that covers the Adelaide Hills area for funding for fire prevention programs in the region. The NRM's response was that it did not allocate according to councils but for the whole region. That may be so, but I will let them have their own little fight over there about that.

However, the bottom line is that money is not out there on the table ready at the moment to support that. Today, in the parliament the Minister for Environment outlined the figures and told us in no uncertain terms that there had been inadequate funding in 1999 from the then government (of which I was not a member) as though that was the answer. I remind the minister that he has had the opposition's support in the passage of this bill to restructure and introduce a better program for the management of the inevitable difficulties that we will face in five weeks' time and the following season, especially with the lack of rain.

However, it is not just a question of money; it is a question of the capacity of you, as the government, and the landowners who have imposed on them by this legislation an obligation to clean up, burn and get rid of the fuel load and ensure that they protect themselves, their families and their neighbours. That is a legal obligation that will come with the passage of this bill, irrespective of what might be added with a few regulations. That is what has to happen between now and 1 November. The only chance left for landowners, public or private, who have not done anything in the autumn or, what they have done is totally inadequate, and who find—

The ACTING CHAIR (Hon. P.L. White): Order! The member must speak to the amendment. This is not a third reading contribution.

Ms CHAPMAN: I am very happy to do that, but I thought I was. Unless it miraculously appears in the regulations, which we have not yet seen and on which there has been a request from the other place that it have an opportunity to consult, we are taking the word of the minister.

I am outlining to him what I expect to see, not only in the regulations but also in the opportunity to ensure that they are activated before 1 November and that we must have that if there is any chance of protecting not just those people who live in the Adelaide Hills but also those in all of the vulnerable areas, which I understand under this program will give us some zones and so forth around the state.

Action will save South Australians from some limited lightning strikes and prevailing winds. Action on that fuel load is imperative, and I would hope to see, on behalf of South Australians, not just in my electorate but for many of the people here to represent fire prone areas, some protection during what will be a very difficult period, given the fuel load and the lack of water supply that we have, so I welcome the return of this with the amendment.

Mr PENGILLY: Much of what I would say has already been said and put in very strong words by the member for Bragg. We sit in this place and pass plenty of legislation, but at the end of the day it has to be practical. I understand completely where the minister is coming from with this amendment, and in a bipartisan manner we support this, but the fact is that we have to be ready for this summer.

The best thing we can do is send Andrew Lawson, Euan Ferguson and Michael Pengilly up into the hills with a box of matches now and burn the heat of them out while they are still green, cold and half damp, because that is the best way to deal with it. I could not believe the minister for the environment coming in here today and telling us we need money to burn off. I have never heard so much nonsense in all my born days. We have forgotten practicalities in this place and in South Australia generally we have let bureaucracy, over-government, laws and regulation take over common sense, and it is totally ridiculous.

I support what the government is doing on this fire and emergency bill and on this amendment No. 11. Of course I support it, because we just have to get on with it. We do not have time to go away and fight this amendment or whatever the LGA wants. It is not always right, and neither are we. However, at the end of the day the fact is that we have to get back to common sense and a bit of practicality.

The minister came in here today and said we have put more money in than was there in 1999. I could have gone out in 1999 with a couple of boxes of matches and a fire stick and got rid of half the problem in my area pretty quickly in the late autumn or the spring. That is when you should burn, not try to run around when it gets to late spring and you have hot northerlies and things have dried out. That is the important thing; you get out there when you can, and you burn it up. You burn in late autumn when you know there is a rain coming so the rain comes and puts it out.

There are a few people around who have some practical experience. The member for Stuart is one, and there are a few others on this side of the house as well. I am terribly concerned about what may happen this summer. The growth will be extraordinary up in the Hills. It has been said before and it is worth reiterating that, after this spring and the rains we are having this week in September, the amount of growth will be amazing, so in getting on with this bill and these regulations I want to see what happens really quickly. I support the government in its direction here, but I want to see a practical approach to it as well.

Motion carried.

Amendment No. 12:

The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT: I move:

That the Legislative Council's amendment No. 12 be agreed to.

The Hon. M.J. WRIGHT: The government supports amendment No. 12. I appreciate the opposition's support in disallowing the previous amendment, and I certainly will honour the commitment I gave in regard to the consultation. I will certainly ensure that that occurs. With amendment No. 12, briefly, the opposition had an amendment for a review after two years. We thought that was a bit too short. We suggested four years; we have got one back saying three years; that seems to be a happy compromise, and we are happy to accept it.

Mr GOLDSWORTHY: I appreciate the minister's acknowledgment for our support for this amendment. This amendment was moved by me as the shadow minister for emergency services and, as I pointed out in the second reading debate, I make the point again that we really need to be on a continual improvement program.

We need to look at ways and means and methods and everything around how we go about improving emergency services and their response to bushfire management and control, so I appreciate the government's support. We did have a discussion that the initial amendment was for the review to take place in 2012, but life is about compromise and negotiation at times, so the option that I put was for a year later in 2013.

I think it is important that we do formally review the act. The bill we are discussing now in relation to all the amendments came about as the result of a former review process of the original act that was passed in 2005. We are appreciative of the fact that the government is supporting this, along with the other amendments that we moved here and in the upper house. The minister was true to his word that the government was prepared to look at the amendments between the houses.

A number of the amendments moved by the opposition, by the member for Waite, the Hon. John Dawkins and myself, were accepted. Also, the amendments which the Local Government Association proposed and which were moved by the Hon. Robert Brokenshire in the other place have been picked up and accepted.

I do not necessarily want to congratulate ourselves on it all, but I think this has been an example of how the government, the opposition and the minor parties can work in the whole Parliament of South Australia with a view to serving the people of South Australia more effectively and efficiently.

Motion carried.