Natural Resources Committee: Pinery Fire Fact-Finding Trip

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (16:12): I move:

That the report of the committee, on the Pinery Fire Regional Fact-Finding Trip, be noted.

On 25 November 2015, the Pinery area in South Australia's Lower and Mid North experienced a fast moving and destructive fire which resulted in sadly two fatalities and five other people suffering critical injuries. Many thousands of head of stock perished and hundreds of buildings and many pieces of farm machinery were destroyed along with significant areas of unharvested crops. It was a devastating day for the region and for the state as a whole.

On 2 March 2016, the Natural Resources Committee conducted an all-day field trip to the Pinery area. On the visit the Presiding Member, the Hon. Steph Key MP and committee members, the Hon. John Dawkins MLC, the Hon. Robert Brokenshire MLC, Mr Jon Gee MP and Mrs Annabel Digance MP and I, all viewed first-hand the aftermath of the destruction wrought by the fires and met face to face with impacted community members.

Accompanying the committee on the visit were Mr Steven Griffiths MP, the Hon. Tony Piccolo MP, Mr Adrian Pederick MP and Mr Stephan Knoll MP, and Matthew Werfel of the office of federal MP Mr Nick Champion. Fires do not respect lines drawn on a map. On the day of the Pinery fire both the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges and the Northern and Yorke NRM regions were impacted. Consequently, after the fires, representatives of both NRM regions collaborated in responding to the fires, to the recovery effort and supporting this fact-finding tour.

Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges NRM Board Presiding Member, Professor Chris Daniels, and the Natural Resources Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges District Manager, Tony Fox, travelled with the committee on the day, providing background information and commentary. The Northern and Yorke NRM Board Presiding Member, Eric Sommerville; the Natural Resources Northern and Yorke Director, Trevor Naismith; and the Northern and Yorke Landscapes and Sustainability Manager, Craig Nixon, joined the tour on site. Other regional staff assisted by providing presentations and briefings at various sites during the day. Committee members heard that some of the farming techniques which have enabled growers to dramatically increase productivity, including no-till and low-till planting, also contributed to the fuel load and exacerbated the speed and severity of the fire, which burnt areas not previously considered high risk.

The committee heard that the fire has challenged people to rethink their practices and ideas. Conservation tillage practices are being reviewed. New combinations of techniques, some of them older 'back to the future' techniques, have been trialled across the fire area to reduce sand drift and topsoil loss, which is a major concern after the fires. Revegetation efforts are being made to create and restore shelter belts, as well as contribute to soil improvement. The committee also heard that, in this instance, pockets of native vegetation and, indeed, any vegetation higher or greener than annual crops or stubble, proved helpful in slowing the spread of the fire on the day.

The fire obviously impacted on the community deeply. This made the spirit of optimism in the region during the recovery all the more impressive and moving. The recovery effort has been supported widely by state and local governments and, importantly, by a great many individuals, volunteers and community organisations, with neighbours unhesitatingly lending support to each other, both during the fire and afterwards.

I commend the members of the committee; the Presiding Member the Hon. Steph Key MP, Mrs Annabel Digance MP, Mr Jon Gee MP, Mr Peter Treloar MP, the Hon. Robert Brokenshire and the Hon. John Dawkins for their contributions to this report. All members have contributed and worked cooperatively on this report. Finally, I thank the members of the parliamentary staff, Patrick Dupont, the committee's secretary, and Barbara Coddington, the committee's research officer, for their hard work and assistance. I commend this report to the council.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (16:18): I rise to endorse the remarks of the Hon. Mr Kandelaars in relation to this report. Very soon after the Pinery fire last year, I actually took the opportunity to traverse much of that area, largely on unsealed roads back and forth across that significant area. I was most concerned about the impact on the whole area, particularly in relation to the soil erosion issues that were extraordinarily apparent. I did ask a question of the Minister for Environment in this place soon after that about what could be done by NRM boards, and DEWNR in particular, to assist landowners in the management of the land in that area. I think in the last meeting of the Natural Resources Committee last year I did flag that I thought it would be appropriate for our committee to make a field visit to the area, so I was very pleased that on 2 March this year we were able to undertake a very valuable examination of the various parts of that region.

This is a region of South Australia that I know pretty well. I will not say I know every inch of it, but I know it pretty well. I suppose I was shocked initially, and continued to be shocked over a period of too many months, that not only the lighter country was drifting, which would quite often happen in drier times, but also that some of the heavier country that you would never expect to ever see drifting was drifting. I think many people who live in Adelaide have seen the results of all that with the number of extraordinarily dusty days that have impacted particularly on the northern suburbs of Adelaide and probably even further.

One of the things we saw that I think was a highlight of that trip were the innovative farming practices that have been undertaken by a number of land managers in that area to try to combat the long, dry months after the fire before any meaningful rain could provide enough moisture to stop the blowing dust. Some of those practices have actually seen a return to farming activities of many years ago, but they needed to do that to try to limit the erosion.

One thing the tour provided to all members of the committee, other members of parliament and some staff members who joined us for all or part of the trip was the extraordinary impact on people's livelihoods. The extraordinary loss of livestock, of fencing, of machinery and of buildings is something that I think we have all heard about, but it is still a stark reminder today if you go into that region to actually see that impact.

We were very grateful for the local residents, officers of local government, the two NRM boards and DEWNR for the work they did in giving us a broadbrush view of the various impacts across that region. I particularly want to make reference to the experiences that were given to us by Mr Peter Angus, who farms to the north-east of Mallala, and Mr John Bubner, who the Hon. Mr Lucas probably remembers playing league football. John Bubner farms immediately north of Wasleys. The fire had an impact on both of their families and their farming operations.

Those who were on those trips would never forget the accounts of the very close calls that in both cases their residences were in. In fact, in both cases, if it had not been for good fortune in one sense but some quick thinking in another, both of those houses would have been lost. I think also the impacts on Mr Angus's stud sheep enterprise and on Mr Bubner's significant private native vegetation reserve are great examples of how so many people were affected in different ways.

I thank the other members of parliament who took part in the visit at the invitation of the committee. A number of those members, as well as members of the committee, contributed to the debate in the House of Assembly earlier today. I recommend that members read Hansard, the contributions of local members who represent the communities that were hardest hit.

I just want to raise a couple of other points. In the contribution made by the member for Goyder in another place today and also in a submission to our Natural Resources Committee, there were some issues that I think may not have been completely front of mind after the fire but have been raised by members of his community. There are three points, and I will quote Mr Steven Griffiths:

1. Site distance at road intersections—the hazards of driving in the area during the fire day are well known to all of us, but the point was raised with me that with the devastation of the native vegetation on the road reserves comes the opportunity to support a policy of vegetation clearance of a distance of up to 100 metres on the roads approaching intersections to make them much safer for future traffic use. Sadly, the Mallala community (as with others) has vivid memories of accidents that have occurred due to dense vegetation restricting vision distances. Admittedly, approaching such an intersection should be done cautiously, but it was suggested to me that the Natural Resources Committee should consider a position on the merits of a review of policy to ensure site distance safety.

I interpose that that is relevant for all parts of that Adelaide Plains region that have many intersections on unsealed roads, and many of those intersections are relevant to the point made by Mr Griffiths. I refer to his second point:

2. Fire breaks around townships—this was raised with me by Alan Helps, a fine man and retired farmer.

I will interpose here that I have known Alan Helps for many years and I could not agree more with the member for Goyder's description. Mr Griffiths goes on:

Alan understands the challenges of large, cleared buffer zones around townships as the theory is that it would take a significant amount of land out of production. Given how close the fire got to places such as Hamley Bridge—and I have to say that when I looked at Hamley the day after the fire I was just amazed that it was still there as the fire got so close to the edges of town—I do support it being raised with the committee for discussion.

Once again, I interpose that, in my criss-crossing of the Pinery fire region a few days after the fire, I was absolutely amazed that the town of Hamley Bridge survived. I will continue with Mr Griffiths third point:

Mallala-based farmer, Richard Konzag…raised concerns on the emergency services levy and seeking some type of short-term waiver for fire ground impacted property owners. I also raised this at the Angus farm visit that I attended in the afternoon.

I add that I understand from the member for Goyder's contribution today that the request to the Treasurer for some short-term waiver on the emergency services levy was not granted, which is a great pity.

While this is not in the bailiwick of the Natural Resources Committee, one of the significant issues that has been brought to my attention as a result of the impact of the Pinery fire is mental health. There are certainly many men, women and children in that community who have really struggled with the impact on the day, and also with the ongoing issue of the dust. I think, particularly over the long summer, the many days of blinding, choking dust that was in that region affected the mental health of many people. I have attempted to assist in that area, but I think this is one area of which we need to take ongoing notice.

Finally, the Adelaide Plains is a region that I know and love. A great man who had a similar love for that area was the late Mr Allan Tiller, who unfortunately died that day near the place where the fire started. He and I shared a love of the Adelaide Plains. I think we also recognised the fact that it is a great and resilient people who live in that region. In many ways, whether through the efforts of this committee in relation to vegetation issues or soil erosion issues, or other issues that can be addressed by the NRM, they need to be supported. They also need to continue to receive this support, which I think those in many of the areas will need for some time as a result of that fire. I commend the motion to the council.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (16:32): I rise today to support this important committee report. It is a tragic set of circumstances for all the families, farmers, residents and property owners of the Pinery region. Indeed, the fire front was one of the most intense and devastating that we have seen in our history, equal to that on Eyre Peninsula, which was one of the most intense and severe fires that we have seen since Ash Wednesday.

It was important that the committee went up there because the community needs the support of the parliament, government and anybody and everybody who can provide moral and social support. It is also important to make sure that work was being done on the ground. It is also important, as was identified by some of the farmers, that the commercial sector (that is, the insurance companies) do the right thing by these farmers and property owners and do what insurance is all about. They should support them as strongly as possible within the terms and conditions of their insurance expediently and without too much angst towards the property owners.

I commend Mr Vince Monterola for doing a sterling job as coordinator after the fires. I commend all the volunteers from the CFS and SES, other emergency services such as the police and MFS, and the list goes on. I also commend departmental staff, SA Power Networks, Telstra and all the other organisations that did so much work to help get some sort of order into the communities devastated by these fires.

Whilst I strongly ask all the relevant ministers and their advisers to have a close look at this report, to look at the recommendations, to act on them, to be vigilant and to ensure that no stone is left unturned to help these communities, most importantly I encourage the communities to keep strong, to seek help where needed, not only from a financial and general support basis but if there are issues with their health (particularly their mental health), I encourage them to seek support as it is there, and there is nothing wrong with asking for some help when it comes to getting strong again in a mental health situation.

Fortunately we have seen good rains. I was up that way only a few weeks ago, and the crops are looking good. I believe that the crops will return better and stronger than most of the farmers anticipated. A lot of fencing is going on, a lot of repair work, and we need now for people to help with proper, sensible and planned tree planting programs and road vegetation programs. Amongst all the doom and gloom and toughness for these people, I hope we will continue to see a wet winter, a good, long wet spring and solid crop returns for these people and for the state.

I support the committee's report and I am glad the Natural Resources Committee, as one committee of the parliament, went up there to look at and support the community and subsequently make these recommendations.

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (16:36): In conclusion, I thank the Hon. John Dawkins and the Hon. Robert Brokenshire for their contribution to this debate. Sadly, bushfires are a reality of living in the driest state in the driest continent. I think from our tour certainly some issues were raised (and the honourable members did raise it), and that is the need to look at the lessons to be learnt from this bushfire, particularly the intensity and speed of the fire, and some ways to try to militate against that in future. I commend the noting of this report.

Motion carried.