BUSHFIRE CENTRE OF
EXCELLENCE — LOCATION
918. Hon Dr STEVE THOMAS to the minister representing the
Minister for Emergency Services:
I refer to the minister's
announcement on 13 April of a Rural Fire Division within the Department of Fire
and Emergency Services and the development of a co-located Bushfire Centre of
Excellence, and the so-called tender document released online in September 2018
that effectively calls for expressions of interest from local governments in
having the Bushfire Centre of Excellence in their jurisdiction as reported in The
Great Southern Weekender of 27 September this year.
(1) What media
statements were issued by the government announcing the opening of this tender
and when were they issued?
(2) What media
statements were issued by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services
announcing the opening of this tender and when were they issued?
(3) How did the
government advertise this tender?
(4) Noting that
the closing date of the tender is 24 October, has the government attempted to
minimise the distribution of this document in an attempt to reduce the
applications from rural and regional areas of Western Australia?
Hon STEPHEN
DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services
advises the following.
(1)–(2) No
media statements were released to signal the opening of the request for
proposal process. All eligible local governments were directly advised via the
WA Local Government Association. Additionally, advertisements were placed in The
West Australian of 29 September 2018 and 3 October 2018.
(3) The request for proposal is not a formal tender process;
it is a preliminary process to gauge interest in hosting the new Bushfire Centre of Excellence. DFES is
calling for proposals from local governments to ensure that a fair and
equitable process is followed, given the overwhelming interest in the first-of-its-kind
centre.
(4) No.