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Bushfires Royal Commission

Posted by: 3AW Radio | 31 July, 2010 - 5:33 PM

Megan Levy, The Age: Victoria’s contentious "stay or go" policy would be overhauled and a new independent Fire Commissioner appointed to oversee the state’s firefighting operations, under recommendations made by the Bushfires Royal Commission in its final report handed down today.

Senior figures in the emergency services, including then police commissioner Christine Nixon and Country Fire Authority chief officer Russell Rees, also came under attack in the report for catastrophic failures in the emergency nerve centre on the day of the country’s worst ever bushfire disaster, Black Saturday.

The fires in February last year killed 173 people and destroyed thousands of homes, prompting the most comprehensive investigation of a natural disaster in the country’s history.

After 154 days of evidence from more than 400 witnesses during the commission, the final report tabled Parliament today found that:

- Victoria should revise its bushfire safety policy to enhance the role of warnings
- the amount of fuel-reduction burning done on public land each year should be more than doubled
- bushfire shelters and community shelters should be established in the state’s high-risk areas
- electricity legislation be amended so that power lines in Victoria be replaced with aerial bundled cabling and underground cabling to reduce the bushfire risk
- co-ordination and communication between the Country Fire Authority and the Department of Sustainability and Environment be drastically improved.

One of the reports most far-reaching recommendations is a shake-up of the so-called ’’stay and defend or leave early’’ policy, which has been a mainstay of fire management across the country.

Lawyers assisting the commission had called for the policy to be abandoned, however today’s final report recommended a hybrid model embracing a range of options including evacuation of high-risk areas on code-red days.

The report states that, while the central tenets of the stay-or-go policy remain sound, it was severely tested and Black Saturday exposed weaknesses in its application.

The policy was too "simplistic" and "realistic advice is unavoidably more complex’’, the report states.

"As a consequence, although the Commission suggests retaining the effective elements of the existing policy it also recommends augmenting and improving the policy in a number of areas," the report says.

Blog comments

If (according to Brumby) Christine Nixon was the best Chief Commissioner this state has ever had, it certainly doesn't say a lot about her predecessors~! LMFAO

Lenny Thursday 5 August, 2010 - 11:06 AM
The biggest problem we faced on Black Saturday was too many 'non events' in positions of management who had ZERO experience, expertise or knowledge on how to manage a disaster~! Nixon performed like a typical PC bureaucrat - all repetitive jargon, but no substance~! Great in theory, but in practice couldn't manage a game of two-up~! The blind leading the blind & all she could worry about was her ever expanding gut~! There are women in this world capable of dealing with any situation in a totally credible & professional manner, and NIXON obviously wasn't one of them~! To say she was left wanting, would be a gross overstatement of her management ability~! Brumby - YOU put these incompetents in power~! There wasn't one of them that had the faintest idea on how to manage a crisis situation~! You're going to 'digest' the Royal Commission findings? We don't need more parasites feeding off government funds, attempting to justify their incompetence/existence~! We NEED a combination of "hands on" professional experience from Police Communications (D24), joint MFB/CFA/DSE fire fighters, SES, Fire Behaviour expertise, paramedics, hospitals & (if required) a military explosives expert, in the event of an uncontrollable bushfire threatening the city. Once the situation was totally out of control, you should have immediately commandeered every available helicopter in the state (including News services if required), to get an up to date picture of the expanding disaster, instead of relying on deficient 'wankers'~! Brumby, the RC was commissioned as a fact finding mission, not as a glorified ASS protection exercise for your government~! Emergency Coordination Centre??? You are kidding~! What coordination? As for the Police Minister - run away sonny~! Your 5 minutes of fame is up~! Try redirecting blood to your brain~!

Lenny Thursday 5 August, 2010 - 11:03 AM
The government shelved its own commissioned enquiry into the Alpine Fires. The report released in June, 2008 barely saw the light of the day. This very report, just 8 months prior to Black Saturday, mirrors some of the same issues shown in the Royal Commission. The government (and opposition) and all agencies need to show leadreship on this report. 173 deaths should not be minimised by weak response. Any risk for this scale of disaster to occur again in any region should be mitigated as much as possible. I know myself that I dont want to go though this type of disaster again, and see others deal with loss or of being a survivor and feeling guilty.
The memory of that day, dealing with the fire, ensuring my survival, will be etched into my brain for the rest of my days. Lets just see if the politicians have the same strength of character as us that survived.

Justin Monday 2 August, 2010 - 7:36 AM
To Justice Bernard Teague & his staff - excellent work under extremely trying & difficult circumstances, particularly during Brumby's attempted circumvention of the process. Brumby - how many people will you sacrifice before you consider organising the BOM to broadcast any potential tornado threats? The overnight Penola tornado in South-East South Australia was just one of many warning signs. The BIG one is coming & this state has ZERO preparation~! A decent tornado will obliterate your budget in seconds~! It will be a repeat of the Black Saturday experience & absolute pandemonium~!

Lenny Sunday 1 August, 2010 - 1:00 PM