Pinery Bushfires

227 Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (27 September 2016). In reference to 2016-17 Budget Paper 5, page 12 and page 15—

1. What are the cost recovery details of the $2.8 million for the Pinery fires in 2016-17?

2. How has the $8.5 million allocated to assist the community to recover from the November 2015 Pinery bushfire been expended?

3. How many of the following have been provided to individuals?

(a) Relief and recovery grants;

(b) $700 immediate emergency assistance funding;

(c) Temporary living assistance; and

(d) Grant funding for re-establishment purposes?

4. How much of this funding has been expended directly from the State Government Budget rather than from the State Emergency Relief Fund?

5. List all grants provided to primary producers affected by the Pinery bushfire since November 2015?

6. How many staff have been engaged to undertake case management and mental health services directly for the Pinery bushfire victims?

7. List the programs and the funding received for community rebuilding and resilience as a result of the Pinery bushfire?

8. When will South Australia receive the reimbursement from the commonwealth government for the Pinery bushfire under the national disaster relief and recovery arrangements and will the reimbursement be $3.4 million or more?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers): I have been advised:

1. I am unaware of any cost recovery in conjunction with this event. The commonwealth will make a contribution to the relief and recovery efforts under the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA).

2. The $8.5 million was allocated to the following purposes:

$1 million donation to Pinery Fire Appeal managed by the State Emergency Relief Fund (SERF);

$0.3 million for the appointment of a Local Recovery Coordinator for 12 months;

$0.3 million for the appointment of a Community Development Officer for two years (including $50,000 for initial small recovery programs);

$1.625 million for grants (emergency accommodation grants, emergency grants, bereavement grants, re-establishment grants) and Relief/Recovery Centre operating costs) to be administered by the South Australian Housing Trust through Housing SA;

$0.27 million for relief and recovery short-term emergency resourcing within the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion (DCSI);

$4.635 million for a Primary Producer Recovery Grant program and outsourced community and industry engagement program to be administered by Primary Industries and Resources SA;

$0.26 million for a community mental health outreach program for 12 months, to be administered by SA Health;

$0.05 million for community development programs and projects for up to two years, to be administered by the State Recovery Office, DCSI;

$0.055 million for Australian Red Cross volunteer activities.

3. With regard to the Pinery bushfire:

1,193 individuals were paid immediate emergency grants of $280 per adult and $140 per child up to a maximum of $700 per household, totalling $670,310;

17 families were provided with immediate emergency accommodation; and

14 re-establishment grants, totalling $140,000 were paid for re-establishment purposes. In addition, two bereavement grants, totalling $20,000 were paid.

4. All of the $8.5 million was from the 2016-17 State Budget.

5. Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA) advises that recovery grants up to $10,000 have been made available to assist primary producers in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys and Light, Mallala and Wakefield local government areas who suffered direct damage as a result of the Pinery bushfire on 25 November 2015.

The grants have helped re-establish eligible primary producer businesses by reimbursing costs associated with the bushfire, including the cost of equipment hire, removing debris and livestock, repairs to farm infrastructure and essential plant and equipment, stabilisation of land, salvaging crops and maintenance of livestock health, purchase of fodder for livestock and water cartage.

As at 21 October 2016, 31 grants have been approved, totalling $300,000.

6. Following the establishment of the Pinery Fire Recovery Centre, six staff were initially engaged to provide case management services. Case management resources reduced to five people in April 2016 as service demands declined and then to three in July 2016 as demand reduced further.

Since 26 September 2016, case management services have been provided by one staff member.

As part of the Pinery fire recovery, there have been programs and events delivered which focus on various aspects of recovery for the region.

7. Funding of $1,000,000 over three years has been applied to community development programs. This has supported programs such as:

Blue Light Disco

Dr Rob Gordon presentation on Community Recovery and associated free DVD

Freeling Support Group

Fire Season Ready Expo

Firey Women's Program

Gals Aloud—Strategic Planning Event

Gardens Alive at Anlaby—Garden Regeneration

Grant Writing workshop

Horse SA Pinery Fire Horse Owner Get Togethers

Listen With Purpose booklet

Make-up & Self Esteem workshop

Men's BBQ's (five held)

Men's Watch

Morning and Afternoon Teas at Primary Schools

PIRSA Think Tank

Road to Resilience – women's resilience event

St Johns First Aid Course (free)

St John's Mental Health First Aid Course (free)

Suicide Prevention Program development in Light Region

Tarlee Girls Night Out

Tree Removal program

Waste Management issues

8. Claims under the NDRRA are submitted to the commonwealth Attorney-General's Department by 31 March in the financial year following the expenditure. Ordinarily, it would be expected that payment would be received later in the same financial year as the claim is lodged.

Expenditure related to the Pinery bushfire will primarily be incurred across both 2015-16 and 2016-17; therefore it would be expected that commonwealth reimbursement would occur in 2017 and 2018 for each of these years. However, as the commonwealth has paused the processing of claims until it has completed a review of outstanding claims from previous years, it is not expected that any funding through the NDRRA will be received in the 2016-17 financial year.