Transcript of my opening speech to the Assembly, in tabling the ACT Bushfire Preparedness Motion.
2023 11 01 Bushfire Preparedness Opening Speech
Madam Speaker I rise to bring the motion tabled in my name. Today I am calling on the Minister for Emergency Services to fully commit to reinstating the Namadgi National Park fire trail network. To return the accessibility status to its pre-Orroral Valley Fire of 2020 as per the standards. And to report to the Assembly on a quarterly basis on the progress made to reinstate the fire trails and to complete the repair works as a matter of urgency.
Madam Speaker, Canberrans love their bush capital. I love living in Bonner in an area that is very close to bushland, where I can look out at our beautiful surrounds. And like many other Canberrans, I would have assumed that this government had prioritised the safety with appropriate Bush fire preparedness.
Last sitting, the Minister stood up in the Assembly, and he assured all Canberrans that, and I quote, the ACT is more prepared in 2023 than in any time in our past”.
I was therefore surprised to read an article in the Canberra Times the next day quoting Brett McNamara, who has over 30 years of experience in ACT Parks. He stated quite clearly that not only is the ACT not prepared, but the fire trail network is also in a shocking condition.
Many areas in the Namadgi National Park remain inaccessible, 3 years after the fires. Key fire trail roads and access ways are not up to standard. Much of the essential work to repair the fire trails after the 2020 fire events are still to be done.
In my discussions with Mr McNamara, he raised some serious concerns that there is still massive work that is required to be done. The McCleod Report called on the ACT government of the day to ensure that all fire trails in the ACT were up to the Bushfire Management Standards. This means that all areas within the Namadgi National Park, around the Cotter and Corin Dams, would be able to provide rapid access.
Rapid access is important when fighting a fire, so you can then get in with a truck, dozers and appropriate equipment and fight the fire as needed. Without this access a fire fighter has to be dropped off kilometres away from where the actual fire is, and by the time they get there, it is out of control – like what happened in the 2003 fires.
Canberrans could have assumed, and I think rightly so, that the return of the fire trails to that same accepted standard would have been a matter of priority. But that is not the case. Looking at the Bushfire map, I was concerned to see the number of key fire trails and fuel breaks listed as either under maintenance, needed to be upgraded, or still in the proposal stage. Why has this essential work not already been completed.
Now, I am aware that we have had several heavy rainfall winters, with significant flooding in many areas. However, I was advised that one of the key things holding up progress for fire trail renewal and maintenance was red tape.
This involves people within the ESA who are taking their time in passing things on. The bureaucratic wheels have just slowed everything down, was one of the comments I received. But meanwhile, our fire trails are still needing repair. And we have the potential for another disastrous fire season.
By the Minister’s own admission last week, the fire trails are not in the same condition as they were prior to the 2019-20 fires. They are very much worse and access is still difficult at the top of Namadgi National Park for firefighting purposes. In fact, the Minister stated that you could not currently get a float truck up the road to the Cotter Hut, a key location for firefighting. Nor is the top of the Corin Dam accessible, another key location for firefighting purposes.
Now you would have thought, if nothing else, that making sure your water supply was fully accessible to fight fires would be a top priority. Now, I know what the Minister is going to say, we have helicopters. However, I have been reliably informed that a helicopter alone cannot fight the type of fires we might expect. And they would find it difficult to get into many of the Cotter and Corin Dam catchment areas.
Helicopters on their own cannot fight fires, they need the support of ground crew, fire trucks, bulldozers, all the tools that firefighters have available – that’s why they are there. All equipment is needed to ensure the fire safety of the people of Canberra.
I asked a question last week about the water catchment area, and the security of our water supply. Again, the Minister stated there was plenty of water supply. He also mentioned we are entering into an El Nino event, as predicted by the BOM, was not of concern to the Minister. The Minister assured the Assembly that the moisture content in the soil and grasslands around the ACT would stay in for the next few weeks.
Here the Minister seems to be at odds with the advice that I have received, that the intense 2019-2020 fires, caused by several extreme dry summers, has damaged the sub-Alpine soil base, on which our water catchment area relies. This soil type is not designed to burn, and especially not at the fire intensities that Canberrans experienced in 2003 and again in 2019-2020.
It takes a long time for this soil to regenerate to the point where it is able to retain the water needed to supply the dams that supply Canberra.
You can understand my concern why these fire trails are necessary. Canberrans need the firefighters to be able to get into our National Park, quickly, efficiently and with all the equipment at their disposal. They need to protect that major part of our major water catchment area, providing 80 percent of the ACTs water. It is vital that this large area is maintained and cared for.
We directly pay the government rates to maintain the fire trails. Every year in our rates we pay the ACT government $375 dollars per household to spend on maintaining our fire safety. And businesses pay even more.
Last year that led to a staggering $103.5 million dollars of revenue. Yes, I understand that some of that will go to paying the wages of fire fighters, building fire stations, and so on. But it would be interesting to know how much of that is being spent on ensuring that our natural environment, our bush capital is safe from bush fires.
Under the Emergencies Act 2004, the ACT Emergency Services Agency is required to deliver a Strategic Bushfire Management Plans, each spanning five years. The Strategic Bushfire Management Plan contains several themes, objectives, and outcomes. Objective 8 of the Plan on pages 54 and 55, addresses the following requirement, Access for vehicles and firefighters to undertake bushfire fighting and fuel reduction. But we have heard that access is not possible, so this objective has obviously not been met.
The Plan also states that it is the responsibility of the Government to ensure that “Well maintained roads and trails are essential for a swift response, and for community safety. Importantly, it makes it safer for firefighters to enter and leave a fireground”. Again, we have heard that this is not in place for many areas in the National Park.
Given the lessons learnt from the Canberra 2003 Fire Storm, the following Coronial Inquiry, the internal ESA Review of the Orroral Valley Fire of 2020, various Royal Commission including the 2019-2020 Black Summer Bushfires, it should by now be well-established, that the need for quickly, effectively, containing wildfire in remote locations relies on the many ‘tools in the fire managers tool kit’.
I have been advised that Aerial support, the Minister’s favourite response, that is helicopters, air tankers, the deployment of Remote Area Fire Teams (or RAFTs) are only effective when completely complimented by having a robust, fit for purpose fire trail network across the landscape. One that provides unfettered access and rapid response to 4wd light and heavy vehicles, including earthmoving dozers, as a means of fire containment.
Madam Speaker, by the Minister’s own admission during question time last week, the ACT is NOT bush fire ready. Our trails do not meet the Standards required. I therefore call on the Minister to commit to reinstating the fire trail networks to the required standards as a matter of great urgency. The ACT Government cannot afford to be neglectful of Canberra’s bush surroundings and water catchment areas. I hope that it is not already too late.
I call on the Minister to report back on progress to the Assembly on the final sitting day of 2023 on the status of the repair of the critical fire trails network in the Namadgi National Park.
END