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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-07-01 Daily Xml
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Bushfire Recovery Support

The Hon. J.S. LEE (14:53): My question is to the Minister for Human Services regarding bushfire recovery support. Can the minister please provide an update to the council about how the Marshall Liberal government is supporting South Australians affected by the recent bushfires temporary accommodation?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:53): I thank the honourable member for her question. We have indeed as a government provided a great deal of support to people in bushfire-affected areas through a range of different programs and partnerships throughout these challenging times for people, particularly those who have been directly impacted by the fires.

I think I have spoken in this place previously in relation to the role of the Housing Authority in terms of the immediate relief centres, where they have provided a safe place for people who are unable to return to their place of residence, including providing them with immediate grants and a range of other services.

Those centres have morphed into recovery centres. We have one located at Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills for people affected by the Cudlee Creek fires, and at Parndana on Kangaroo Island for those affected by the Kangaroo Island fires, which were obviously quite extensive and particularly impacted people on the western side of the island.

We are pleased that we have had a range of services available to people in those centres, and have tried to make things as easy as possible, including providing a single form for people to use for applications, given that there are multiple things that people might apply for through various personal grants. We have also had Primary Industries and people to assist small business, and local government has been part of that as well, particularly moving into this next phase where people are looking at rebuilding.

Some people have not been able to access suitable alternative accommodation, or they have done so on a short-term basis. Clearly, the logistics on Kangaroo Island are much more challenging for people; you can't just slip across the strait to stay the night unless people are relocating in a semipermanent way. The Adelaide Hills has also had its own logistics issues, but we have been pleased that the Minderoo Foundation, in particular, has supported people in those communities, not just for South Australia but also for New South Wales.

A manufacturer at Monarto in the electorate of the member for Hammond, Australian Portable Camps, has worked in partnership with Minderoo and the South Australian government to re-kit 48 shipping containers to enable people to have what is a much more suitable arrangement than what some have been using; in some instances on Kangaroo Island they have been old sheds, and some people have been in caravans and the like. The shipping containers are a much more suitable solution able to be plumbed into existing infrastructure, which provides people with a hot shower as well as better insulation and a much warmer place to sleep.

Eight of those have been provided to the Adelaide Hills, and I was pleased that the new 'marvel from Kavel' and the member for Hammond were able to attend with us on Friday to witness what one of these pods is doing to assist a family with three young children. I think it is probably self-evident that, for that family, having the pod to stay in rather than just their caravan has been very welcome.

I understand 40 have been delivered to Kangaroo Island. We are providing these pods to affected South Australians for the short to medium term while they work through the rebuilding of their more permanent homes. This is just one of the many ways South Australians are being assisted to come through this difficult fire season, and we trust we will come through it stronger than before.

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