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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-04-02 Daily Xml
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BUSHFIRES

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON (15:21): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Environment and Conservation questions about bushfire prevention.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON: The minister's department has recently acknowledged that it was responsible for a bushfire which occurred in Brownhill Creek on 17 January this year. That bushfire tore through 29 hectares of scrub and it took about 120 firefighters and an army of CFS, MFS and departmental vehicles almost four hours to contain it. As the owner of a property which adjoins the site of that bushfire, my family and I are exceedingly grateful to those officers for their work. But the department has now announced that it has introduced an interim work practice for grass-cutting until a statewide policy is developed. The department has stated that these new rules just introduced are as follows:

Until the end of the fire season, the environment department slashers must always be used by an operator with fire equipment kept nearby, regardless of the fire danger rating;

a 9-litre fire extinguisher and firefighting rack-hoe will be fitted to each tractor used for slashing;

slashing will not be permitted when the forest fire danger or grass fire danger rating is either high or very high; and

operators should undertake slashing early in the morning and only in areas of high asset protection.

My questions are:

1. Will the minister confirm that until this recent announcement her department did not have any policy on grass-cutting in bushfire-prone areas, that there was no requirement for departmental slashers to be operated with fire equipment close at hand, that there was no policy on slashing in forest fire or grass fire danger areas where the rating was high or above, and that there was no requirement prior to these latest interim rules that operators undertake slashing at times when bushfire risk was minimised?

2. When will the new statewide policy in relation to this matter be introduced?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister Assisting the Minister for Health) (15:25): An investigation by senior DEH officers into the cause of the fire at the Brownhill Creek Recreation Park on 17 January 2008 has confirmed that the fire started when a tractor-mounted slasher struck a rock, causing a spark which ignited grassland. The slasher was being used to create firebreaks in very rugged terrain next to private properties, and this work was being conducted within the legislative requirements of the Fire and Emergency Services Act. That is the framework within which these activities were occurring.

After investigating the cause of the fire, DEH introduced a new work practice for grass slashing to provide additional precautionary measures. Under this work practice a DEH fire appliance equipped with a water tank, pump and hoses and an operator will always accompany a slasher operation, regardless of the fire danger rating. A nine-litre fire extinguisher and a fire-fighting rake hoe have been fitted to each tractor used for slashing, and no slashing will be undertaken when the forest fire danger or grassland fire danger rating is very high or above.

In terms of policies relating to slashing prior to that, I am not aware of details, other than, obviously, the legislative requirements relating to the Fire and Emergency Services Act. However, I am happy to provide those details and bring back a response.

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