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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-09-22 Daily Xml
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South Australian Bushfires

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (15:57): I welcome the opportunity to speak in this grievance debate. Nearly two years ago now, we were all shocked by the extent and ferocity of the 2019-20 bushfires. There were many even in this place who were affected by them; I know the member for Mawson, in particular, and the member for Kavel were both out there every day in their communities fighting the good fight for the people fighting the fires.

As we know, these were devastating fires. They were subsequently overshadowed a bit in the news cycles by COVID, which is a shame. Throughout 2020 they did not receive quite the public attention they should have, and the goodwill and attitude of South Australians towards the firefighters near the end of that fire season was naturally diverted by concerns about COVID. The rest is history.

What did come out of that bushfire season was a renewed focus at the highest level about our bushfire preparedness, about the impact of climate change, and it led directly to two very significant inquiries. The first was the royal commission into natural disasters, which was not confined to bushfires but had a lot to say, particularly about the South Australian experience.

The second, of course, was the inquiry conducted by the former commissioner of the Federal Police, Mick Keelty. Mick Keelty, with his entourage, travelled as far as he could in South Australia, COVID allowing, seeking submissions, seeking information from the public regarding our bushfire preparedness. He then prepared his report.

There has been some legitimate criticism of the process. There are people, particularly on Kangaroo Island, who feel to this day that they were not properly consulted in the process around either the royal commission or the Keelty review, but I will put that to one side for a moment, as that is a matter for another day.

What did come out of the Keelty review, though, was some very strong recommendations. There were recommendations, as the minister re-announced today, around automatic vehicle locations for CFS trucks and other emergency service vehicles. It is a very good initiative, probably long overdue, and I think Keelty pointed that out. But Keelty made a whole series of other recommendations and observations about our bushfire preparedness.

One of those was about fire trucks, and not just fire trucks in the CFS, I should add, but fire trucks for the MFS and also other emergency services vehicles. He made the observation that there was a severely ageing fleet and that they were not being replaced at anywhere near the rate they should be. That continues to this day. The government did respond with a series of actions, some of which were immediate, some of which were purported to be done by September, which is upon us today—it will not have escaped the house's notice—and some extend into the future.

That is only natural; there are some things that cannot be done overnight. The CFS in particular was promised an upgrade of CFS trucks. I will not reflect right now on whether or not that was sufficient but, suffice to say, some trucks have been provided. I want to focus on six trucks in particular. I am not an expert on fire engines, but I am reliably informed that the 34P is a fire and rescue truck that has been provided to, among other brigades, the Mount Compass brigade.

It turns out that the 34P is not compliant with our road regulations. It is not compliant with our heavy vehicle regulations. The captain of the Mount Compass CFS brigade, Anthony Baker, made a series of complaints about the provision of these 34Ps, which have not been technically fully in-service but are operating at limited capacity. He made a series of complaints to the CFS hierarchy. He made a series of requests to meet with the minister, all of which, so far as he and I are aware, have been denied or ignored. So he took to Facebook.

His is a story I want to expand upon in this place as soon as I get the next opportunity but, suffice to say, he is at the moment suspended due to his activities on Facebook. He is not happy about it. He tells us that the Mount Compass CFS brigade are severely under-resourced as a result of the truck debacle and his own suspension. I think this is a matter that has to be investigated far more thoroughly by this house and by the minister.

Time expired.

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