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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-02-19 Daily Xml
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Kangaroo Island Bushfire Response

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson) (14:56): Supplementary: given that you had met with Mr Gregor at least twice before, why on the night of Thursday 30 January did the Premier not attend the public meeting at the Parndana sports complex where bushfire victims had gathered for an update on the recovery process?

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General) (14:56): I am happy to advise the member that I was in attendance at that meeting, as I was at a number of the meetings, together with the minister for Mortal Kombat, and my recollection is that the Minister for Human Services was also present, all of whom had a direct area of interest in relation to the recovery phase.

Mr Mike Williams, to whom the member has referred already today, was also giving a briefing. We had briefings at that meeting from other members in the community, including principals of the Kangaroo Island schools, because, as members may appreciate, there are all sorts of things that need to be measured and monitored, as well as providing ongoing support. At the previous meeting of the same nature, a lot more people were in attendance, but one expects that as these progress fewer and fewer members of the community attend because they've got the information they need and they are moving on to the rebuild phase of whatever their damage has been.

But the principal, I recall, of the KI community school, including my own old school, the Parndana Area School, which is now the Parndana Campus of KICE, was able to report that all the children who had been living at the western end and who were at the school had been located by their families wherever they might have been disparate around the community, especially those who had lost their homes and who were staying in temporary accommodation—one family of whom I still have in shearers' quarters on a property I have an interest in.

They were able to proudly say that we had not only located them but they appreciated contributions made by the government—I think by the Department for Education. It may have been through human services, but I will give credit to the Minister for Education for extra uniforms and satchels—backpacks and the like—to be able to return to school and to normality in the best way possible.

These meetings are very important. I certainly discussed with the Minister for Human Services her response to this meeting and the concerns that were raised by some at the meeting as to what experiences they had had. She was very pleased to have been able to attend. Mr Pisoni was also busy speaking to not only the very large number of volunteer CFS, MFS and police, some of whom were also giving reports at that meeting on that occasion, but also the enormous number of people who were already there working hard from the ADF, coupled with many people who were supporting the BlazeAid program, which was already underway in assisting people with fencing removal, damaged property, which again the member has raised.

I don't recall on that occasion or at any other meetings there being any concern raised about a delay in the removal of buildings that had collapsed or been burnt through in the fire. I am aware of a number that were lost. Some local people had already activated their own arrangements to dispose of those properties once there had been an assurance that there was no asbestos particularly or other toxins in those properties.

As the member may be aware—but perhaps other members in the house aren't aware—a large tract of the area that was essentially incinerated during the January fires in particular was in a region which was provided under the soldier settlement scheme. Regrettably, many of those houses are contaminated with an enormous level of asbestos.

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