Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-03-04 Daily Xml

Contents

BUSHFIRES

The Hon. SANDRA KANCK (14:43): By way of supplementary question, does the minister agree with comments made by people in the CFS that when these megafires eventuate in South Australia the service will not be able to fight some of them?

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Road Safety, Minister Assisting the Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:43): The comment has been made that there are such fires now. We saw the situation in Kangaroo Island, where clearly in rough terrain we were not able to get to the fire. We have aerial resources, and our main concern is saving lives, then property. The CFS makes a decision and, if it is not safe, it will not send in firefighters. That is why we ask the community to be bushfire ready, to have a plan and to ensure they know what they will do when faced with a situation: whether they will stay and defend their property, which means they have to be bushfire ready. Their property has to be ready and they have to be ready psychologically. If they are not that type of person, they need to leave early.