Bushfire Recovery Support

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (17:50): My question is to the Minister for Planning. Can the minister update the house on what steps are being taken to ensure people are able to rebuild their homes quickly and ensure that the planning system maintains the highest level of bushfire safety?

The Hon. S.K. KNOLL (Schubert—Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Local Government, Minister for Planning) (17:50): I thank the member for Colton for his question. Again, this is another area of public policy which impacts upon people who are impacted by the bushfires. I have personal experience with this with my electorate and previous bushfires, and the work for instance that The Barossa Council and the Light Regional Council did to make sure that they gave priority at that time to planning applications from people who were affected by bushfires, especially where they were like-for-like replacement dwellings.

The Adelaide Hills Council, unfortunately through the Sampson Flat fire, is actually all too familiar with what happens when properties are affected and the need to be able to get people back on their feet more quickly. What we don't want to see is bureaucracy getting in the way of people being able to rebuild and rebuild quickly. We have offered as a department to provide support directly to both the Adelaide Hills Council as well as the Kangaroo Island Council to deal with the volume of applications that they are dealing with. Certainly, KI Council has a huge task in front of them, but we as a state government are here to help.

Can I say also that we were already and will continue to update bushfire mapping to make sure that we have and maintain the highest levels of standards within the code and making sure that, as people replace dwellings, that they do so using the latest safety standards so that, if the unfortunate event of a bushfire was to happen again, the property itself is protected as best as can be to survive and also to keep people in and around those properties safe.

Sitting extended beyond 18:00 on motion of Hon. S.K. Knoll.