Wednesday, 20 March 2019

 Mr BLACKWOOD (Narracan) (10:04): The Bunyip State Park fire has destroyed 29 homes and many outbuildings. The recovery centre managed by Cardinia shire at the Bunyip recreation reserve has provided a central point for the dissemination of information and a location for a range of services to be based. The Cardinia shire staff have been doing a great job in the coordination of referral for those impacted by the fires.

At this stage there appears to be a gap in the support being provided for businesses affected by the fires. There are some businesspeople who have lost their homes which were also their business bases and therefore now have no income and are really doing it tough. After the 2009 Black Saturday fires the Brumby government put in place a business assistance program that provided a $15 000 one-off grant to affected businesses and other assistance such as low-interest loans. This is exactly the type of assistance that is required for a number of affected businesses so they can take the early steps toward recovery.

After the 2009 fires every family or individual that lost a home received $50 000, regardless of their insurance situation. Those impacted by the Bunyip fire are being told that the $47 000 clean-up grant will only be available for those that were not insured. I also remind Parks Victoria and other agencies that changes introduced following the 2009 fires commit them to providing half the cost of materials for boundary fencing that is shared with private landowners.

I urge the Premier to ensure that those families and individuals facing the enormous challenge of rebuilding their homes and businesses get the help they deserve.