Pinery Bushfires

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:27): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS: Today, I table before the chamber the Noetic Solutions report into the operations of the CFS during the Pinery fire and the Mingara Australasian report into the South Australian government radio network during the Pinery fire, as well as their associated action plans. Memories are still fresh in the minds of those from the Mid North who witnessed the devastating fire that raged through more than 82,500 hectares and tragically led to the loss of two lives. Insurance losses from the fire exceeded $75 million, 91 homes were lost and more than 400 farm structures and thousands of livestock were destroyed.

Last Wednesday, I released both reports and their action plans to the public, which are already available to access on the SAFECOM website. By tabling this report in parliament today, the government is showing its commitment to the continuous improvement of the response of our emergency services during major emergency services events. These independent reviews both represent another step forward in strengthening our ability to respond to a catastrophic fire in the future.

One of the key findings which came out of the Noetic Solutions report into the operations of the CFS was that the conditions on 25 November 2015 prohibited any possibility of containing this ferocious and extremely fast-moving fire until those conditions improved. The Noetic Solutions report identified nine themes from which the CFS can draw learnings. These include incident management, public information, intelligence gathering and sharing, facilities, relocation and relief of persons, aviation, personal safety, interagency operations and fatigue management. In response, the CFS has developed a comprehensive 31-point action plan to address these nine lessons. Work is already underway, and many of these learnings have already been actioned or are in the process of being actioned.

Early in my time as minister, well before these reports were completed, I received reports of CFS volunteers confronted by a change of wind direction leading to their decision to engage burn over protection mode within their trucks. As a result of these reports, I made the decision early on to prioritise the upgrade of the CFS fleet with this life-saving technology and in the recent state budget $9.3 million was committed over the next four years to accelerate the program. The state budget has also brought in an additional $6.2 million to boost volunteer training through nine full-time training positions.

The Mingara report, which examined the capability of the South Australian Government Radio Network during the Pinery fire, reached the conclusion that there was no interruption to the government radio network during the fire. However, the review identified that traffic congestion and delays to radio messages experienced during the peak of the fire were caused by GRN sites in the Pinery vicinity being overloaded by unrelated radio traffic. Some examples of this user behaviour included using the GRN for non-critical purposes as well as unnecessarily dragging radio traffic from other locations.

The Mingara report provides 21 recommendations for an improved and more coordinated South Australian GRN, with the Attorney-General's Department, SAPOL and the CFS addressing a 16-point action plan. This is another area the government has responded to, with $940,000 to fund specialised training for operators of GRN, to ensure this world-class network service being used to its best potential during major emergencies. This additional funding is on top of the $154.5 million upgrade of the GRN which is on target to be complete by late next year.

As we look back on what was a devastating, traumatic and operationally complex fire, we look to the important learnings of independent reviews such as the Noetic and Mingara reports. We have a clear way forward in strengthening our response and capability, and a sector with a proactive and hardworking attitude, to be able to get on with the job of its continuous improvement.

Finally, Mr President, I would like to use this opportunity to thank all the volunteers who dedicated their time and expertise in protecting the lives and property of South Australians and all those affected in the Mid North region. We cannot thank them enough for their invaluable contribution, and we, as a government, will do what we can to support them both now and into the future.