Pinery Bushfires

Mr GEE (Napier) (14:59): My question is for the Minister for Emergency Services. Can the minister advise the house about the Pinery fire response effort?

Mr Pengilly: Just read it straight out, Tony.

The SPEAKER: The member for Finniss is warned for the second and the final time. Minister.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:00): I thank the member for his question. The Pinery fire ignited at around 12.05 last Wednesday. The fire, fanned by very strong winds and low humidity, made for very difficult conditions. The speed of the fire and extremely low visibility on the ground made fighting the fire incredibly difficult. The fire burnt over 80,000 hectares and had a fire perimeter of 265 kilometres. The fire caused the dreadful loss of two lives and massive destruction in the Mid North of our state, including a large proportion of my own electorate of Light.

Our deepest condolences are with the families affected, and our thoughts are with the communities devastated by the fire. Many communities were impacted, including, amongst others, Owen, Freeling, Hamley Bridge, Wasleys, Kapunda, Tarlee, Templers, Stockport and many others.

I would like to thank the outstanding efforts of our emergency services: the Country Fire Service, Metropolitan Fire Service, the State Emergency Service, South Australia Police, the South Australian Ambulance Service and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Each of those contributions cannot be underestimated. On behalf of the state and the parliament, I extend our sincere gratitude particularly to the thousands of CFS volunteers who fought the fire on the ground. I would also like to thank the many government agencies that provided critical support to our first responders, which included over 300 SES volunteers and staff, local councils and—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: Farm fire units; quite right—and also the 311 Victorian personnel who came to our assistance.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: I mentioned the farm units. As the Premier mentioned earlier, the current assessments indicate the loss of 87 homes, 388 sheds and outbuildings, 98 vehicles, 93 pieces of farm machinery. As the emergency services minister and member for Light, I know these communities very well, and I am extremely proud and humbled by their response to the fire. This was evident when I caught up with a number of people in my electorate over the days after the fire. Despite the loss suffered by these communities, people have been quick to offer assistance to others. Although the path to recovery will be a long one, I know that their resilience will carry them through this ordeal.

At Wasleys, I heard many horrific stories of people's experience of the fire. The presence of burnt-out vehicles across many roads is probably the image that is uppermost in my mind in terms of the horrific experiences of some people. I heard one story, where a family was driving in a car and the fire caught up to them as they tried to leave the town, and the car caught on fire. I just cannot imagine how horrific that would be as an experience.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by SAPOL, but as a matter of course, an independent review of the management of the disaster will take place, as occurred after the Sampson Flat fire. I acknowledge the concerns of the CFS with respect to the government radio network, and I can assure this place that this will be covered as part of that review. As a sector we will seek to understand what has occurred with regard to the network to ensure that we are able to respond in the most effective manner. To assist this process, I have sought advice on the terms of reference for this review.

Lastly, as today marks the first day of summer, I again implore all South Australians in bushfire-risk areas to clear their properties as appropriate and review and update their bushfire action plans. The message from the authorities is very clear: the safest action to take is to leave and leave early. Once again, we thank our firefighters and all those involved in the emergency response effort and I thank those already involved in the recovery effort.