House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Bushfire Preparedness Bushfire Preparedness The Hon. D.R. CREGAN House of Assembly Kavel Special Minister of State Bushfire Preparedness The Hon. D.R. CREGAN (Kavel) (14:29): My question is to the Minister for Education, representing the Minister for Emergency Services, who sits in the other place. Can the minister outline to my community the additional resources being put in to ensure that despite ongoing dry conditions, and the fact that the bushfire season has come to a close, further bushfire protection will be required until there is significant rain? The Hon. B.I. BOYER House of Assembly Wright Minister for Education, Training and Skills Bushfire Preparedness The Hon. B.I. BOYER (Wright—Minister for Education, Training and Skills) (14:29): I thank the member for Kavel for this very important question. As the minister representing the Minister for Emergency Services in this place, I will go away and endeavour to get a more fulsome answer to the member's question, but there are a few things that I can say. The fire danger season came to an end yesterday in the Mount Lofty Ranges district. I think it was after a two-week extension, which I think we could all tell is an indication of conditions, which of course remain serious, and I am sure that is the genesis of the member for Kavel's question here, beyond the fact that there was a two-week extension to the fire ban period in the Mount Lofty Ranges district. It has now ceased as of yesterday, but of course all the messages we have heard from the minister in the other place are around making sure that communities do not get complacent because of that. The conditions remain some of the driest that we have seen and a risk remains right across the state. I am advised, though, that the aerial fleet will be on standby over the coming days to support volunteers who have been tirelessly serving their communities year round, under very trying conditions. I am also advised that this is the same aerial fleet which completed around 3,000 drops this fire danger season, and I believe that that is nearly double the number of drops that were completed in the last season, which is very impressive, and I want to commend them for their work. The end of the season is an opportunity to remind all South Australians planning to conduct any burn-offs, especially in proximity to any scrub or timbered vegetation—which would be a particular concern, I am sure, of the constituents of the member for Kavel—to maintain safe practices and, if they are looking for more advice about how to do that, to make sure they visit the CFS website.