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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-06-22 Daily Xml
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Kangaroo Island Bushfire Response

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL (Mawson) (14:50): My question is again to the Minister for Emergency Services. What does the minister say to the people of Kangaroo Island who lost so much in the bushfires of 2019-20 and who say that their voices and views haven't been heard in the reviews? Mr Speaker, with your leave and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. L.W.K. BIGNELL: I have been speaking with many people on Kangaroo Island who feel they haven't had their views on the bushfires heard. One person told me:

We were on the ground. We know what government departments didn't do to help with the fires but no-one wants to hear us, and when we read the CFS report into the bushfires we don't see our views reflected there. We are really struggling with our mental health side of things, and being ignored and the prospect that mistakes will be repeated just makes it worse for everyone.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA (Hartley—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services) (14:51): I thank the member for Mawson for the question. I do point out that the CFS has accepted all recommendations from the operational review, and I want to continue to thank the CFS volunteers, as well as the CFS volunteers and the farm firefighting units, who worked hard, especially during those 2019-20 bushfires.

There have been two reviews. They have been comprehensive, and the recommendations of the most recent one have all been accepted. There was another review in 2007 under the former Labor government. You might not be able to find that 2007 review in the public domain; however, it is very pleasing that this time around, when a review was done into what transpired on Kangaroo Island, the review was made publicly available for full transparency.

What I say to the member for Mawson is that if he does have any specific incidents or constituents, if they want to get in contact, the next time I'm on the island I am more than happy to speak to them. I do acknowledge and appreciate that for many people on the island this has been extremely difficult. That is why we are working very hard as a government to make sure that we give our CFS the tools they need to keep South Australians safe.

As I said, after significant bushfire incidents it's important that we take stock of what was done well but also what can be improved. We are investing like never before in our emergency services.

The CFS also held a public forum as the operational review was released, and I think that is a very important thing. It is very important that people on the island were able to have their say, but I do acknowledge that this has definitely not been an easy process for many people on the island, and many people are still getting over their grief, their losses, their trauma. We absolutely acknowledge that; it is not an easy issue.

However, as I said, for the first time ever we have invested in making sure that AVL technology is rolled out across the board. We are continuing to invest to roll out new CFS trucks like never before—

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell: You might as well sit down, mate, because you're not actually addressing the people of Kangaroo Island: you're just repeating yourself.

The SPEAKER: The member for Mawson will leave for 20 minutes in accordance with standing order 137A—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: —and he will leave in silence.

Members interjecting:

The honourable member for Mawson having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir: as the member for Mawson was leaving the chamber, the Minister for Innovation and Skills yelled out an abusive term about the member. I ask that he apologise and withdraw immediately.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! There is no point of order. The member for West Torrens, as has been addressed on a number of occasions in recent weeks, will be aware, if only from my rulings in relation to similar matters, of the requirement in relation to a point of order of that nature. There is no point of order. The minister has the call.

The Hon. V.A. TARZIA: As I was saying, $4.7 million has been allocated for nine additional regional FTEs, which will include the first permanent CFS staffing presence on Kangaroo Island. Under 16 years of the Labor government that was never the case, but we take this very seriously. We know that more needs to be done. We have put our money where our mouth is, and that is why, for the first time, there will be a permanent CFS presence on Kangaroo Island.

Apart from that, we do acknowledge the grief and the trauma that many of these people have had to go through, and that is why we have also allocated funding for an additional counsellor to support the mental health and the wellbeing of volunteers, which is very important.

As my colleague the Minister for Environment and Water would also know, in recent times we have also allocated $37 million to increase hazard reduction, including prescribed burns on public and private land, which is very important because we know that, because of the terrain and as the climate continues to heat up, unfortunately there is a degree of inevitability when it comes to bushfires happening in South Australia.

However, what we can do as a government is to do everything we can not only to better steel ourselves and protect ourselves but also to give resources to the CFS so that they can keep South Australians safe.

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