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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-02-06 Daily Xml
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Farm Firefighters

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (15:47): In many parts of South Australia, farm fire units are an essential part of the community's response to fire. Not only do they add to the collective efforts to combat fires alongside our CFS volunteers and paid firefighters, but regional landowners may often also find themselves on the front line as first responders, stopping a fire before it escalates.

Of course, we are currently counting the losses of the Cudlee Creek fire and the devastating Kangaroo Island fires. Together, these fires tragically took lives and destroyed or damaged many homes, buildings, stock, feed and forests. And of course, closer to my home in the South-East, the Keilira bushfire burned more than 25,000 hectares, with a perimeter of some 76 kilometres. This fire destroyed three houses and more than 2,000 bales of hay, hundreds of kilometres of fencing, and many head of cattle and sheep.

We in the opposition recognise the valuable contribution farm firefighters make in our rural, regional and remote communities, where every second counts to contain and stop the spread of an out of control fire. That is why the former Labor government introduced the regional capability community fund (RCCF), which was inexplicably cut by the Marshall Liberal government.

The fund started in 2014 and was managed by the South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission, providing $500,000 in annual funding for rural, regional and remote communities. It allowed landowners and community groups to purchase equipment to better protect themselves and their communities. It was a co-contribution model, working hand in hand with farmers.

Successful applicants could claim half the price of an approved purchase, up to a maximum of $2,500. These grants were not handpicked; they were awarded on criteria such as value, location, existing capability, access and distance to emergency services, and other risk factors unique to individual properties. Mobile firefighting units, bulk water storage tanks with CFS-accessible fittings and high-volume pumps were among some of the items purchased under this fund. Additional items included personal protective equipment, generators, vehicle-mounted safety beacons and UHF radios.

In the recent Kangaroo Island fires the community was in dire need of UHF radios. The member for Mawson, Leon Bignell, made a tremendous effort through his networks to obtain 50 two-way UHF radios through community donations and businesses. His call-out for radios was heard as far away as Sydney, resulting in a further 80 radios from Peter and Jeff from the Australian manufacturing company GME. Nine radios were donated by Tim Stockman and customers of his store Stockman Electronics in Burra, and a further two came from Jack Plug from Willunga.

These radios acted as a lifeline. The member for Mawson thanked everyone on his Facebook post of 2 January where he said:

But the biggest thanks of all goes to the farm fire fighters who are out there on their utes and trucks. They’ve been fighting these fires for 14 days. They’re tired but they are determined and totally committed. They’ve saved so much land and stock as well as many lives and structures.

They are facing another day from hell tomorrow. Stay safe and we hope the radios help.

The annual funding promoted and enhanced the message of bushfire safety in rural, regional and remote communities. It provided a conversation around bushfire readiness, safety and equipment maintenance checks on farms and communities.

The member for Stuart, the Hon. Dan van Holst Pellekaan, saw the importance of the fund to his electorate. In the last 2018 funding round, before it was recklessly axed by the Marshall Liberal government, the member for Stuart promoted the grant on his website. What did he say? He said:

As many people in the electorate of Stuart would know, bushfires, storms and floods can be devastating...The fund supports regional groups and individuals to buy important equipment…which can be used to protect and support local communities.

The Minister for Emergency Services should take heed of the member for Stuart on the importance of the regional community fund to his community. It is disappointing, to say the least, that the Marshall Liberal government recklessly ended funding that was so important to regional, rural and remote communities, because this funding is needed more than ever before.

The after cost of an out of control fire is far more damaging to our communities and to the budget than annual grants totalling $500,000. Farm firefighting units enable an immediate fire response and can sometimes access areas that the CFS cannot. Some of the critical assets in recent fires were saved only because of the farm firefighting units. The cutting of this fund undermines the on-the-ground response to fires, is unfair to our regional communities and should be restored.

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