MAJOR REFORMS TO MAKE VICTORIA FIRE-SAFE AND FIRE-READY
Emergency Services Minister Bob Cameron today announced Neil Comrie AO APM, former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police, had been appointed to monitor government departments and agencies as they implement 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission recommendations.
Mr Cameron said Mr Comrie would be responsible for auditing the progress of agencies and departments as they implement the Royal Commission’s recommendations. Mr Comrie will provide a progress report and final report to the Premier to table in the Parliament of Victoria.
Mr Comrie was appointed by the Government to monitor and audit progress of agencies and government departments in implementing interim recommendations of the Royal Commission.
The Victorian Government today also released its implementation plan, outlining the actions government departments and agencies would take to implement recommendations of the final report of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission.
The Government has outlined $867.3 million in new investments and reforms to the way Victoria prepares for and responds to future bushfires, stemming from recommendations of the Royal Commission as well as further measures.
It brings to almost $1.4 billion the new measures the Government has announced to address the threat of bushfires since the Black Saturday and Gippsland fires.
Key changes in the $867.3 million package include:
- Hundreds more firefighters and a doubling, then tripling of fuel reduction burn targets;
- A significant Increase in support for volunteer firefighters;
- New fire mapping technology for faster and more accurate community warnings;
- More funding to accelerate the roll-out of more Neighbourhood Safer Places;
- A tougher maintenance regime for electricity businesses and high visibility arson operations;
- Agreement to replace the Fire Services Levy with a progressive property-based levy and improvements to planning controls in bushfire-prone areas; and
- A major boost to community education and information about preparing for bushfires, including the introduction of bushfire education in the school curriculum.
Mr Cameron said the Government had supported in full or in part 66 of the 67 recommendations of the Royal Commission’s final report and in implementing them, the foremost priority of every level of government and emergency services agency would be the protection of human life.
“We have already made big changes to how we prepare for and fight fires since the tragic Black Saturday and Gippsland fires, including investing over $1 billion towards the firefighting and reconstruction effort,” Mr Cameron said.
“Now we are going further and taking the next steps to continue driving a new focus on the protection and preservation of human life from the threat of bushfires.
“Our Government will act swiftly and decisively. We are determined that the actions we take, in partnership with emergency services agencies, local government, businesses and communities, unite Victorians in one commitment to do all we can to protect human lives from bushfires.”
Mr Comrie will deliver a progress report to the Premier by 31 July 2011 and a final report by 31 July, 2012 with both reports to be tabled in the Parliament of Victoria.
“Our Government took the decision to an appoint an independent monitor to oversee the implementation of the Commission’s interim recommendations because we wanted to take every necessary step in better preparing the State for the threat of bushfires,” Mr Cameron said.
“Mr Comrie did an excellent job in providing an independent assessment of how agencies and departments were progressing with interim recommendations which has been of great assistance in their ongoing work to implement changes and reforms. That’s why we have again appointed Mr Comrie to oversee and audit the implementation of final report recommendations.”
Key features of the Royal Commission recommendations implementation plan include:
- A large-scale increase in fuel reduction to 275,000 hectares of all public land over the next four years, rising to the 385,000 hectare target over the following two years:
- Significant changes to Victoria’s bushfire safety policy including enhanced warning systems, introducing bushfire education in the Victorian school curriculum, more community information and education and the development of evacuation guidelines for Police;
- Commitment of Victorian Government funding to the second stage of Emergency Alert, which will deliver warnings in the event of a life threatening emergency to a mobile phone based on its geographic location. The Commonwealth Government has also committed significant funding and it is being progressed through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG);
- Increasing the number Neighbourhood Safer Places, places of last resort in high bushfire risk areas and the development of other shelter options including new Safer Precincts in urban centres near high risk bushfire areas where people can go when a Fire Danger Rating of Code Red is declared (Safer Precinct);
- Changes to the Fire Danger Rating which will return it to the arch shape, remove the ‘catastrophic’ term in favour of Code Red as a call to action and adjustments to the trigger point for a Code Red declaration to ensure Code Red is only for the very worst of days;
- Roll-out of Operation Firesetter by Victoria Police between November 2010 and April 2011 which will involve high visibility, statewide anti-bushfire arson police patrols focusing on high risk bushfire areas and a Crimestoppers Arson Hotline;
- Development of an integrated building and planning hazard map and risk response framework to provide a single source of information on bushfire hazard levels and biodiversity and complemented by detailed mapping of high risk areas;
- Replacing the Fire Services Levy with a progressive property-based levy and introduction of concessions for low-income earners with the release of a proposed funding model for consideration early in 2011; and
- Extension of the Government’s 10/30 right for landowners which gives them the power to clear trees within 10 metres and other vegetation within 30 metres of their dwelling to improve property defendability.
Mr Cameron once again thanked the more than 1500 people involved in providing their views to the government ahead of its response to the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission.
“We set the Royal Commission the widest possible terms of reference, tight deadlines and capacity to inquire into every aspect of the tragic February fires because we wanted to leave no stone unturned in better protecting Victorians in future bushfires,” Mr Cameron said.
“Our Government believes it is vital that we take communities and emergency services with us to support new actions to make our State safer and that’s why we listened to the community before formulating our final response.
“Government departments and agencies are working quickly to implement recommendations of the Royal Commission’s report on top of delivering significant new measures and resources for the firefighting effort announced since the Black Saturday and Gippsland fires.”
The Victorian Government’s $867.3 million package will deliver the following key investments and reforms to bushfire preparedness and response:
- Victoria’s Bushfire safety policy: $105.5 million to reform and further enhance Victoria’s warning systems, support for local councils in high bushfire risk areas to plan and prepare, new equipment grants for volunteer emergency services organisations, a new bushfire education curriculum in Victorian schools, more community education and information and support for vulnerable people in communities;
- Incident Management and Response: $120.9 million to drive further improvements in emergency and incident management including a new significant expansion of fire information systems using Australian-first fire mapping technology, more training for incident controllers, further upgrades to incident control centres, more joint fire agency training and a package of volunteer support initiatives including a new identification card;
- Fireground Response: $197.5 million for 342 new career CFA firefighters and 100 additional MFB firefighters, a new program to standardise the radio connections between the CFA and DSE to deliver quicker information to incident control centres, a new CFA program to identify and remediate communications black spots and improved aircraft despatch. This is in addition to 170 additional permanent DSE firefighters funded under the Land and Fuel Management package;
- Electricity Caused Fire: Implementation of new legislation to strengthen maintenance obligations of electricity businesses, new incentives to minimise fire starts caused by electricity distribution assets and enforce greater accountability for organisations operating powerlines with $2 million to be invested in a new Powerline Bushfire Safety Taskforce;
- Deliberately Lit Fires: A new high-visibility arson operation on high bushfire risk days will be deployed through Victoria Police’s new Operational Response Unit, with a further $2 million to Crimestoppers and to Victoria Police to gather information from the public about possible arsonists to further target police activity;
- Planning and Building: $28.5 million to better integrate building and planning in bushfire-risk areas, including new local policy solutions and changes to the requirements of vendors selling a home in a bushfire-risk area, an enhanced focus on vegetation management and an extension of the Government’s 10/30 rule for landowners;
- Land and Fuel Management: $403.8 million to meet a large-scale fuel reduction increase of 275,000 hectares of all public land over the next four years, rising to the 385,000 hectare target over the following two years, 170 new permanent DSE firefighting staff and new funding for 231 seasonal firefighters, improve vegetation management as well as monitor the impacts of fires and fuel reduction on the State’s biodiversity; and
- Organisational Structure: $6.1 million to reform the organisational structure of Victoria’s firefighting agencies through the establishment of a new Fire Services Commissioner to sit over the top of the state’s three firefighting agencies as the most senior operational firefighter.
