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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-10-16 Daily Xml
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BUSHFIRE PREVENTION

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (14:32): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before directing a question to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation relating to—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Ridgway, the deputy leader—

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —a strategic assessment of South Australia's fire zones.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Ms Lensink, you may wish to start again.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: No, that's alright. The minister, I think, understood what I—

The PRESIDENT: Well, I missed everything that you said.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: You'd like to know? It was in relation to the strategic assessment of South Australia's fire zones.

The PRESIDENT: Are you seeking leave?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: I did.

The PRESIDENT: You did?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Yes.

The PRESIDENT: And was leave granted?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: That's up to you, isn't it?

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: The new Coalition federal government environment minister (Greg Hunt) has flagged what he has described as the 'paralysis' of strategic assessment zones under the former Rudd/Gillard/Rudd government as one of his priorities, which was reported recently. He was quoted as saying:

50 projects had been left stranded by the former federal government without a decision on whether they even needed to be assessed under bipartisan legislation.

Renewed urgency will be given to South Australia's strategic assessment of fire management policy for land under the care of the SA Minister projects.

My questions for the minister are:

1. What representation has the state government made on this issue to the federal government?

2. Does the lack of assessment present any threat to South Australia for the upcoming fire season?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:35): I thank the honourable member for her most important question, which is really in two parts. I will deal with the later part of her question first and come back to the first question at the end. The fire management activities of the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources extend across land under my care and control as the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation. This includes land under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972, the Wilderness Protection Act 1992, and the Crown Land Management Act 2009.

The department is a registered bushfire brigade of the South Australian Country Fire Service and responds in support of the CFS to bushfire incidents across the state. The department provides the CFS with experienced and trained incident management personnel, firefighters and equipment. The department is playing an increasingly important role in supporting the CFS at bushfire incidents, particularly those of a prolonged nature. In particular, I am advised that the department's involvement plays a valuable role in reducing the burden on CFS volunteers, as I outlined to this place yesterday.

The department's fire brigade consists of 530-odd brigade members, with more than 350 firefighters, 81 firefighting appliances and I think 150 support staff. The department's firefighting resources are available for response across the state, interstate and internationally. The Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources prepares for public land comprehensive fire management plans designed to provide strategic direction for fire management activities. Fourteen fire management plans have been adopted across the state, covering approximately 49 per cent of parks and reserves managed by the department, I am advised, roughly equal to about 154 parks and reserves.

A further five fire management plans are being developed currently. These plans will cover the South Para area of the Mount Lofty Ranges, Central Eyre Peninsula, Northern Flinders Ranges, Dudley Peninsula on Kangaroo Island, and the AW region in the Far North-West of the state, the Alinytjara Wilurara. I have been advised that the department has successfully gained funding through the federal Natural Disaster Resilience Program to develop the Phoenix bushfire simulation model for South Australia to assist with modelling fire spread, impacts and risks.

In tandem with the description of prescribed burning I gave yesterday in a ministerial statement, I can say that we are as well prepared as we possibly can be for bushfire risks. In tandem with our prescribed burning program, we are taking the lead in spring and autumn to try to reduce the fuel that has sprung up with the good winter rains, and we intend to do that through the window to certainly late November and, hopefully, a bit through December as well.

In relation to discussions with the new incoming federal government, I can say that I have had discussions of a general nature with minister Hunt over the phone, and I have also had a face-to-face meeting with parliamentary secretary Simon Birmingham on other matters. The strategic assessment zone issue was not raised in those discussions.

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