Wednesday, 22 March 2023

Bushfire preparedness

Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:28): (95) My question is to the Minister for Emergency Services. Minister, according to the Armstrong Creek Times on 10 March this year, deputy chief fire officer Andrew Morrow said the following:

The wetter and cooler conditions this summer will mean communities can expect to see firefighters conducting planned burns if the weather and forecast conditions are suitable and it is safe to do so.

Burning during extreme weather conditions with wind gusts of up to 90 kilometres an hour resulted in three out-of-control planned burns taking place around the Great Ocean Road. Why did the planned burns take place in the lead-up to a day forecast to be extreme weather conditions?

Harriet Shing: Stop spreading misinformation.

Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:29): Just to pick up the interjection of my colleague to my left, Ms Hermans, there were errors in your question. To classify something as out of control when it is not out of control and has never been declared as that in any of the times you prefaced in your question is really damaging. Please make sure that the information that you use –

Members interjecting.

Jaclyn SYMES: You used the term ‘out of control’, and that is incorrect. First of all, coming back to the substance of your question that had some accuracies in it, I would say that you have probably directed your question to the wrong minister, because I am not the minister responsible for controlled burns; that would be three down to my right. However, in relation to that incident, I obviously was in very close contact with Minister Stitt in relation to the controlled burns that were in that region.

First of all you mentioned volunteers at Armstrong Creek, and I do want to start by saying what a fantastic job our volunteers and personnel did in relation to dealing with the fires at Kennett River, Lorne and Eastern View. They were all held within their control lines. There was obviously some extreme weather on Saturday; I know many of us were updating our VicEmergency app quite regularly. But FFMVic – it does not roll off the tongue all that easily – followed standard operating procedures to categorise a number of planned burns as bushfires. But those bushfires, as I would repeat, were always at a contained status. The fire danger eased on Sunday with much cooler conditions, less wind, and that total fire ban was lifted. All evacuation notices were lifted. Thankfully residents were able to stay in their homes due to the reduced threat.

There was a considerable effort put into those fires when they were reclassified from controlled burns to bushfires. As I said, there were numerous volunteers. There were planes and helicopters dropping retardants and water on those fires as well, and they did a fantastic job to ensure that the community in that region remained safe.

Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:32): Thank you to the minister, but I think we have to take into account that there were evacuations. At an emergency services fire briefing that we had earlier this year, which unfortunately you were not able to be present at, government officials informed the briefing that the fire preventative back-burning was to be completed by the end of February. Given that last week three back-burns caused evacuations, suggesting that the fires had clearly gotten out of their original controls, they clearly did not meet the February deadline. How many planned back-burns remain outstanding?

Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:32): I want longer than a minute for this one. When my office organise briefings for you guys, it does not mean that I do not get a briefing as well. I sort of have my own briefings, and then I open it up to make sure that everyone who is interested in fire management has that information available.

In relation to planned burns, they are an important component of fire mitigation. Again, you are asking me about processes that are actually not my responsibility; they are the responsibility of the Minister for Environment. However, I can provide you with a bit of an update on procedures. Forest Fire Management Victoria and CFA work closely with the Bureau of Meteorology to decide when to burn. Planned burns will always carry risk; however, due to careful planning and management, very few burns go beyond control lines, which happened here. No fire went beyond the control lines. I cannot stress that enough. You misinformed the house in your substantive question, and you did it again despite the fact that I begged you not to. Experienced firefighter patrols patrol planned burns in the days after the burns. They monitor for any hotspots and they make sure it is safe. As I said, there is always inherent risk in planned burning, but the benefits for prevention and protection of community are things that are foremost for experts.

Ann-Marie Hermans: On a point of order, President, the question was: how many planned back-burns remain outstanding?

The PRESIDENT: I think the minister was relevant, particularly when she indicated it does not come under her administration.