BUSHFIRE PREVENTION

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON (15:02): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for State/Local Government Relations questions about bushfire prevention.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON: The recommendations handed down by the Deputy Coroner, who conducted an inquest into the Wangary fires, included a couple of areas that required action by the Minister for State/Local Government Relations. The first was recommendation 7, which states:

...Minister for Local Government cause rural councils to appoint an Officer whose duties consist entirely of bushfire prevention, such Officer being required to become a trained, operative member of the South Australian Country Fire Service during the currency of his or her appointment.

The second recommendation involving the minister was No. 34, whereby the Minister for State/Local Government Relations and the Minister for Emergency Services are required to cause local plant and equipment that is suitable for use in bushfire fighting to be equipped with radios connected to the government radio network. My questions are:

1. In relation to the appointment of dedicated bushfire officers, given reports that some councils do not have such officers currently, can the minister advise the council what action the government has taken to ensure that recommendation 7 was fully implemented originally and continues to be enforced?

2. In relation to recommendation 34, can the minister assure the council that all local council equipment suitable for use in bushfire fighting is equipped with radios connected to the government radio network?

3. What steps are being taken to ensure that equipment is maintained in an operational state?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (15:05): I thank the honourable member for his questions. On 18 December 2007 the Deputy State Coroner, Mr Anthony Schapel, handed down his findings in relation to the Wangary bushfire coronial inquest, and he included 34 recommendations for action. Four of the recommendations—1, 4, 7 and 34—directly mentioned local government, and several other recommendations indirectly affected local government—such as recommendations 12 and 13 that deal with community education and communication.

The South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission (SAFECOM) coordinated a response to the recommendations on behalf of the state government, and a working party was established to progress work on a report that went through each of the recommendations and mapped out an action plan to determine a response to each. I am told that the working party comprised 24 representatives from 14 agencies and organisations, including the Office for State/Local Government Relations as well as the LGA. The Local Government Association established the LGA CFS reference group to provide it with council feedback on those recommendations that related to local government, and in May the LGA provided a response to the working party established by SAFECOM.

The government's response includes a range of legislative changes, and these will be incorporated into the work being progressed as part of the review of the Fire and Emergency Services Act 2005. The implementation of the non-legislative recommendations continues to be coordinated by the Commissioner of Fire and Emergencies in conjunction with the Wangary coronial inquest working party representatives. So, as you can see, a great deal of concerted and coordinated work has been done regarding those recommendations.

In relation to the radio network, I have received a report. I do not recall the exact details, but there was a reason the radio network recommended was not considered to be an optimal outcome. I cannot remember why that was, but all the appropriate stakeholders went through it and found it was not practical to recommend it. They devised an alternative strategy that involved furnishing equipment to specific vehicles rather than fitting it to all vehicles, only some of which might be useful for certain operations; specific equipment would be made available to put into the vehicles that had been determined as being useful for a particular operation.

So, and as I have outlined, the people on the ground who have to work with and operate that equipment, and use it to protect themselves and those around them, have been working together in various groups to operationalise the recommendations that have come out of the coronial inquest. A great deal of work has been done, and I am happy to bring back to the chamber the operational details and outcomes of that.