House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-11-17 Daily Xml

Contents

Country Fire Service

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (15:27): My question is again to the Minister for Emergency Services. Has the role of the CFS been clearly defined as per recommendation 18 of the AFAC Operational Review of the Sampson Flat Bushfire, and if not, why not?

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:27): I thank the member for his question. I can advise the member that all of the chief officers and police have met in the last days to make sure that each role they play in emergency services is very clear, but also to work out a plan should a major incident occur. Given that they are the people who actually undertake the work day to day, I am confident that, should a major incident occur, emergency services will be able to respond in a very effective and efficient way. I am very confident that, combined with the paid staff who we have working across the services and with the support from volunteers in rural areas, should an incident occur it would be addressed. However, I would also like to reaffirm that while we are ready to respond and have the utmost confidence in our ability to respond and that the resources are available, prevention is better than the need to respond, so I would continue to urge the community to take preventative action.