❓ Question regarding why emergency radio communications were not addressed in the 'Review of Western Australia’s Bushfire Preparedness' report. The Minister responds, outlining actions taken prior to the report's release, including commissioning a feasibility study.
AnsweredQoN 939Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
EMERGENCY RADIO COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK
As a supplementary question, was this issue not addressed in the report titled “Review of Western Australia’s Bushfire Preparedness”, dated April 2009 but tabled by the Premier in October 2009? Mr R.F. JOHNSON
As a supplementary question, was this issue not addressed in the report titled “Review of Western Australia’s Bushfire Preparedness”, dated April 2009 but tabled by the Premier in October 2009? Mr R.F. JOHNSON
AnswerView source ↗
Certainly, this issue was contained within the report that was handed down by the Premier. Various other things had taken place prior to that, such as amendments to the Bush Fires Act and those amendments played an important role. The Premier’s report acknowledged that some contingency plans and some legislation had been put in place to try to assist in combating serious bushfires. That was one of the areas that the member quite rightly mentioned. I hate to say it, but I was ahead of the Premier on this one. Mr C.J. Barnett : You always are. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Not always, Premier, but on this one I perhaps was. Prior to that, I had asked the CEO of FESA to carry out this feasibility study, to discuss the matter with all the other agencies and to report back to me. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s been going on all year! Ms M.M. Quirk : Why wasn’t it dealt with in the review? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I think the Leader of the Opposition has obviously got hearing problems. I said to the member for Girrawheen that I thought that it was about two months ago that I wrote to the chief executive officer of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and asked him to come back to me with a report on the best options for emergency communications systems, because I know that the police have some great systems in place that have spare channels—as do local authorities for their bush fire brigades, and I am pretty sure the Department of Environment and Conservation has also. The best way to spend Western Australia’s dollars is to make sure that we have a comprehensive system, rather than duplication of the same thing in each and every agency.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON replied: Certainly, this issue was contained within the report that was handed down by the Premier. Various other things had taken place prior to that, such as amendments to the Bush Fires Act and those amendments played an important role. The Premier’s report acknowledged that some contingency plans and some legislation had been put in place to try to assist in combating serious bushfires. That was one of the areas that the member quite rightly mentioned. I hate to say it, but I was ahead of the Premier on this one. Mr C.J. Barnett : You always are. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Not always, Premier, but on this one I perhaps was. Prior to that, I had asked the CEO of FESA to carry out this feasibility study, to discuss the matter with all the other agencies and to report back to me. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s been going on all year! Ms M.M. Quirk : Why wasn’t it dealt with in the review? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I think the Leader of the Opposition has obviously got hearing problems. I said to the member for Girrawheen that I thought that it was about two months ago that I wrote to the chief executive officer of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and asked him to come back to me with a report on the best options for emergency communications systems, because I know that the police have some great systems in place that have spare channels—as do local authorities for their bush fire brigades, and I am pretty sure the Department of Environment and Conservation has also. The best way to spend Western Australia’s dollars is to make sure that we have a comprehensive system, rather than duplication of the same thing in each and every agency.
Certainly, this issue was contained within the report that was handed down by the Premier. Various other things had taken place prior to that, such as amendments to the Bush Fires Act and those amendments played an important role. The Premier’s report acknowledged that some contingency plans and some legislation had been put in place to try to assist in combating serious bushfires. That was one of the areas that the member quite rightly mentioned. I hate to say it, but I was ahead of the Premier on this one. Mr C.J. Barnett : You always are. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Not always, Premier, but on this one I perhaps was. Prior to that, I had asked the CEO of FESA to carry out this feasibility study, to discuss the matter with all the other agencies and to report back to me. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s been going on all year! Ms M.M. Quirk : Why wasn’t it dealt with in the review? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I think the Leader of the Opposition has obviously got hearing problems. I said to the member for Girrawheen that I thought that it was about two months ago that I wrote to the chief executive officer of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and asked him to come back to me with a report on the best options for emergency communications systems, because I know that the police have some great systems in place that have spare channels—as do local authorities for their bush fire brigades, and I am pretty sure the Department of Environment and Conservation has also. The best way to spend Western Australia’s dollars is to make sure that we have a comprehensive system, rather than duplication of the same thing in each and every agency.
Mr C.J. Barnett : You always are. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Not always, Premier, but on this one I perhaps was. Prior to that, I had asked the CEO of FESA to carry out this feasibility study, to discuss the matter with all the other agencies and to report back to me. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s been going on all year! Ms M.M. Quirk : Why wasn’t it dealt with in the review? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I think the Leader of the Opposition has obviously got hearing problems. I said to the member for Girrawheen that I thought that it was about two months ago that I wrote to the chief executive officer of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and asked him to come back to me with a report on the best options for emergency communications systems, because I know that the police have some great systems in place that have spare channels—as do local authorities for their bush fire brigades, and I am pretty sure the Department of Environment and Conservation has also. The best way to spend Western Australia’s dollars is to make sure that we have a comprehensive system, rather than duplication of the same thing in each and every agency.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Not always, Premier, but on this one I perhaps was. Prior to that, I had asked the CEO of FESA to carry out this feasibility study, to discuss the matter with all the other agencies and to report back to me. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s been going on all year! Ms M.M. Quirk : Why wasn’t it dealt with in the review? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I think the Leader of the Opposition has obviously got hearing problems. I said to the member for Girrawheen that I thought that it was about two months ago that I wrote to the chief executive officer of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and asked him to come back to me with a report on the best options for emergency communications systems, because I know that the police have some great systems in place that have spare channels—as do local authorities for their bush fire brigades, and I am pretty sure the Department of Environment and Conservation has also. The best way to spend Western Australia’s dollars is to make sure that we have a comprehensive system, rather than duplication of the same thing in each and every agency.
Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s been going on all year! Ms M.M. Quirk : Why wasn’t it dealt with in the review? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I think the Leader of the Opposition has obviously got hearing problems. I said to the member for Girrawheen that I thought that it was about two months ago that I wrote to the chief executive officer of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and asked him to come back to me with a report on the best options for emergency communications systems, because I know that the police have some great systems in place that have spare channels—as do local authorities for their bush fire brigades, and I am pretty sure the Department of Environment and Conservation has also. The best way to spend Western Australia’s dollars is to make sure that we have a comprehensive system, rather than duplication of the same thing in each and every agency.
Ms M.M. Quirk : Why wasn’t it dealt with in the review? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I think the Leader of the Opposition has obviously got hearing problems. I said to the member for Girrawheen that I thought that it was about two months ago that I wrote to the chief executive officer of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and asked him to come back to me with a report on the best options for emergency communications systems, because I know that the police have some great systems in place that have spare channels—as do local authorities for their bush fire brigades, and I am pretty sure the Department of Environment and Conservation has also. The best way to spend Western Australia’s dollars is to make sure that we have a comprehensive system, rather than duplication of the same thing in each and every agency.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I think the Leader of the Opposition has obviously got hearing problems. I said to the member for Girrawheen that I thought that it was about two months ago that I wrote to the chief executive officer of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and asked him to come back to me with a report on the best options for emergency communications systems, because I know that the police have some great systems in place that have spare channels—as do local authorities for their bush fire brigades, and I am pretty sure the Department of Environment and Conservation has also. The best way to spend Western Australia’s dollars is to make sure that we have a comprehensive system, rather than duplication of the same thing in each and every agency.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON replied: Certainly, this issue was contained within the report that was handed down by the Premier. Various other things had taken place prior to that, such as amendments to the Bush Fires Act and those amendments played an important role. The Premier’s report acknowledged that some contingency plans and some legislation had been put in place to try to assist in combating serious bushfires. That was one of the areas that the member quite rightly mentioned. I hate to say it, but I was ahead of the Premier on this one. Mr C.J. Barnett : You always are. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Not always, Premier, but on this one I perhaps was. Prior to that, I had asked the CEO of FESA to carry out this feasibility study, to discuss the matter with all the other agencies and to report back to me. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s been going on all year! Ms M.M. Quirk : Why wasn’t it dealt with in the review? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I think the Leader of the Opposition has obviously got hearing problems. I said to the member for Girrawheen that I thought that it was about two months ago that I wrote to the chief executive officer of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and asked him to come back to me with a report on the best options for emergency communications systems, because I know that the police have some great systems in place that have spare channels—as do local authorities for their bush fire brigades, and I am pretty sure the Department of Environment and Conservation has also. The best way to spend Western Australia’s dollars is to make sure that we have a comprehensive system, rather than duplication of the same thing in each and every agency.
Certainly, this issue was contained within the report that was handed down by the Premier. Various other things had taken place prior to that, such as amendments to the Bush Fires Act and those amendments played an important role. The Premier’s report acknowledged that some contingency plans and some legislation had been put in place to try to assist in combating serious bushfires. That was one of the areas that the member quite rightly mentioned. I hate to say it, but I was ahead of the Premier on this one. Mr C.J. Barnett : You always are. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Not always, Premier, but on this one I perhaps was. Prior to that, I had asked the CEO of FESA to carry out this feasibility study, to discuss the matter with all the other agencies and to report back to me. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s been going on all year! Ms M.M. Quirk : Why wasn’t it dealt with in the review? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I think the Leader of the Opposition has obviously got hearing problems. I said to the member for Girrawheen that I thought that it was about two months ago that I wrote to the chief executive officer of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and asked him to come back to me with a report on the best options for emergency communications systems, because I know that the police have some great systems in place that have spare channels—as do local authorities for their bush fire brigades, and I am pretty sure the Department of Environment and Conservation has also. The best way to spend Western Australia’s dollars is to make sure that we have a comprehensive system, rather than duplication of the same thing in each and every agency.
Mr C.J. Barnett : You always are. Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Not always, Premier, but on this one I perhaps was. Prior to that, I had asked the CEO of FESA to carry out this feasibility study, to discuss the matter with all the other agencies and to report back to me. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s been going on all year! Ms M.M. Quirk : Why wasn’t it dealt with in the review? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I think the Leader of the Opposition has obviously got hearing problems. I said to the member for Girrawheen that I thought that it was about two months ago that I wrote to the chief executive officer of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and asked him to come back to me with a report on the best options for emergency communications systems, because I know that the police have some great systems in place that have spare channels—as do local authorities for their bush fire brigades, and I am pretty sure the Department of Environment and Conservation has also. The best way to spend Western Australia’s dollars is to make sure that we have a comprehensive system, rather than duplication of the same thing in each and every agency.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : Not always, Premier, but on this one I perhaps was. Prior to that, I had asked the CEO of FESA to carry out this feasibility study, to discuss the matter with all the other agencies and to report back to me. Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s been going on all year! Ms M.M. Quirk : Why wasn’t it dealt with in the review? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I think the Leader of the Opposition has obviously got hearing problems. I said to the member for Girrawheen that I thought that it was about two months ago that I wrote to the chief executive officer of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and asked him to come back to me with a report on the best options for emergency communications systems, because I know that the police have some great systems in place that have spare channels—as do local authorities for their bush fire brigades, and I am pretty sure the Department of Environment and Conservation has also. The best way to spend Western Australia’s dollars is to make sure that we have a comprehensive system, rather than duplication of the same thing in each and every agency.
Mr E.S. Ripper : That’s been going on all year! Ms M.M. Quirk : Why wasn’t it dealt with in the review? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I think the Leader of the Opposition has obviously got hearing problems. I said to the member for Girrawheen that I thought that it was about two months ago that I wrote to the chief executive officer of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and asked him to come back to me with a report on the best options for emergency communications systems, because I know that the police have some great systems in place that have spare channels—as do local authorities for their bush fire brigades, and I am pretty sure the Department of Environment and Conservation has also. The best way to spend Western Australia’s dollars is to make sure that we have a comprehensive system, rather than duplication of the same thing in each and every agency.
Ms M.M. Quirk : Why wasn’t it dealt with in the review? Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I think the Leader of the Opposition has obviously got hearing problems. I said to the member for Girrawheen that I thought that it was about two months ago that I wrote to the chief executive officer of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and asked him to come back to me with a report on the best options for emergency communications systems, because I know that the police have some great systems in place that have spare channels—as do local authorities for their bush fire brigades, and I am pretty sure the Department of Environment and Conservation has also. The best way to spend Western Australia’s dollars is to make sure that we have a comprehensive system, rather than duplication of the same thing in each and every agency.
Mr R.F. JOHNSON : I think the Leader of the Opposition has obviously got hearing problems. I said to the member for Girrawheen that I thought that it was about two months ago that I wrote to the chief executive officer of the Fire and Emergency Services Authority of Western Australia and asked him to come back to me with a report on the best options for emergency communications systems, because I know that the police have some great systems in place that have spare channels—as do local authorities for their bush fire brigades, and I am pretty sure the Department of Environment and Conservation has also. The best way to spend Western Australia’s dollars is to make sure that we have a comprehensive system, rather than duplication of the same thing in each and every agency.
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