BUSHFIRES —
ESPERANCE
1550. Hon COLIN de GRUSSA to the minister representing the
Minister for Emergency Services:
I refer to the ''Record of
Investigation into Death'' from the Coroner's Court of Western Australia
regarding the 2015 Scaddan bushfires.
(1) When will the state government
make a formal response to the coroner's report?
(2) How will the
state government consult with the Shire of Esperance, Department of Fire and
Emergency Services and volunteer firefighters to identify and work towards
implementing the appropriate recommendations from the report?
(3) Will the
state government prioritise funding and implement the recommendations of the
report?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me by
the Minister for Emergency Services.
(1)–(2) The
state government will carefully consider the recommendations of the coronial
inquiry. A formal response will be provided following the conclusion of this
bushfire season, which is the current focus of the Department of Fire and
Emergency Services. This will include consultation between DFES, the Department
of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions Parks and Wildlife Service, and
the Esperance community, which are committed to working together on community
safety in the Esperance region.
(3) The state
government has already undertaken significant reforms to DFES and prioritised
record funding into bushfire mitigation and planning. This includes a landmark
$35 million investment in mitigation to reduce bushfire risk, including on
crown land; a $15 million mitigation activity fund to support local governments
to undertake mitigation in high-risk areas; and another $15 million to fund the
bushfire risk management planning program, including 11 new bushfire risk
management officers to identify risks and develop bushfire plans. DFES also
implemented a number of reforms in the Esperance region following the 2015 bushfires, including boosting the level
of local DFES management support in the region; enhancing the
partnership between DFES and the Shire of Esperance by basing the Esperance
community emergency services manager in the DFES Esperance office, and
pre-positioning of aircraft and support personnel ahead of bad fire weather.
Local aircraft providers in Esperance and surrounding areas are now registered on ARENA—the National Aerial Firefighting
Centre database of aviation service providers. This database is a national
system to support agencies' management of aircraft, operator compliance
and resource availability. There has also been the establishment of an
interagency south east fire working group to identify and prioritise bushfire
mitigation across the Shires of Esperance, Jerramungup and Ravensthorpe.