Natural Disaster Risk Management

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland) (14:33): My question is to the Minister for Emergency Services. How is the state government assisting the community to manage natural disaster risks?

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:34): I would like to thank the honourable member for his question and also his commitment to supporting local communities.

The duration, frequency and intensity of heatwaves have increased across large parts of Australia since 1950 with seven of the 10 warmest years on record having occurred since 1998. There has been an increase in extreme fire weather and a longer fire season right across large parts of Australia since the 1970s. Indeed, during our last fire danger season our state faced its busiest period of fire activity on record, followed by an extreme storm, flooding and several heatwaves. During these extreme events not one life was lost and property damage was minimised. This was because of the excellent efforts of our fire, emergency and rescue service workers, both paid and volunteer.

While we marvel at this beautiful country we live in, we acknowledge that natural hazards are a fact of life and that we must all play a part in managing and mitigating the natural disaster risks that exist around us. That is why today, in partnership with the commonwealth government, I am pleased to announce a contribution towards the $7 million in funding to assist communities across South Australia to build resilience to natural disasters. The South Australian government contribution is more than $1 million and the federal government has kindly contributed more than $2 million.

This multisector commitment aims to lessen the impact of natural disasters. Local communities will be in a better position to respond to emergencies and disasters, meaning lives and properties will be saved. Funding will go towards 37 projects including:

$60,000 to support the communities of Eden Valley and Bangor which were impacted by the bushfires in January 2014;

$134,640 for flood mapping on Kangaroo Island, and work with the local community to develop flood management strategies;

$63,053 to provide community education on the importance of animal management in emergency plans;

$504,500 to work with communities to identify bushfire risk and develop bushfire management area plans and local treatment plans; and

$430,000 to increase community awareness of non-operational volunteering roles and to promote the benefits of employing Country Fire Service and State Emergency Service volunteers to larger employers and therefore boost our number of volunteers.

A full list of the successful projects can be accessed at the SAFECOM website later today.