❓ Mr. Hughes asks about the Kalamunda bushfire mitigation forum. The Minister for Emergency Services details the forum's attendees and discussions, including the Rural Fire Division and the Bushfire Centre of Excellence, while criticising the Nationals WA's stance on the latter.
AnsweredQoN 816Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
BUSHFIRE MITIGATION
FORUM — KALAMUNDA
816. Mr M. HUGHES to the Minister for Emergency Services:
I refer to the bushfire mitigation
forum held recently in my electorate of Kalamunda. Can the minister please
update the house on what occurred at the forum and what this will mean for the
future of bushfire management across our state?
FORUM — KALAMUNDA
816. Mr M. HUGHES to the Minister for Emergency Services:
I refer to the bushfire mitigation
forum held recently in my electorate of Kalamunda. Can the minister please
update the house on what occurred at the forum and what this will mean for the
future of bushfire management across our state?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Kalamunda
very much for that question and for his involvement in that bushfire forum held
up there in his seat of Kalamunda. It was a very, very good day.
This gives me the opportunity to update
the house on the bushfire forum; I did inform the house before the forum took
place what we intended to do, but to repeat: as the member for Kalamunda knows,
there were representatives at the bushfire forum from local government, the
Pastoralists and Graziers Association, WAFarmers, many government departments,
volunteer associations and, of course, the volunteers themselves. In fact, 50 per
cent of participants in the bushfire forum were volunteers from the length and
breadth of Western Australia, from as far away as Kununurra and Esperance.
Mrs A.K. Hayden interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Darling Range, I do not want to hear your voice.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : The forum
discussed the work of the Rural Fire Division, as it is established at the
moment. We discussed the future of the Rural Fire Division and the type of work
that it does, the role of mitigation and how we can take the Rural Fire
Division forward. As the member knows, later in the afternoon we also discussed
the future of the Bushfire Centre of Excellence. That forum gave people an
opportunity, particularly the volunteers, to have input into how the Bushfire
Centre of Excellence should be structured, the type of training that should
take place at the Bushfire Centre of Excellence and their role and involvement
in the future of the Bushfire Centre of Excellence. It was terrific because the
advice that they provided, as the member knows because he was a part of the
working group, to the Department of Fire and Emergency Services and ourselves,
as government, will go a long way to assist us in designing the Bushfire Centre
of Excellence for Western Australia.
It is a pity, however, as the member
knows, that when I addressed the forum, I had to explain to forum attendees
about the behaviour of some people who are out there simply causing trouble
about the Bushfire Centre of Excellence. For example, we have had the Nationals
WA literally out in the media causing confusion and basically trying to mislead
the people of Western Australia about the whole process of establishing the
Bushfire Centre of Excellence. I do not know where the opposition stands on the
Bushfire Centre of Excellence and what it wants from the Bushfire Centre of
Excellence.
Mrs A.K. Hayden interjected.
The SPEAKER : I call the
member for Darling Range to order for the first time.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : For example,
Mr Speaker, Hon Dr Steve Thomas says that the Bushfire Centre of Excellence
should not be further north than Pinjarra. He said that on 1 October. Hon Martin
Aldridge put out a media release on 10 October saying that it should be in
Northam. At least Hon Dr Steve Thomas had read and understood what was on the
Tenders WA website, because he said, ''It's not a tender. It's
just an expression of interest.'' However, Hon Colin de Grussa said that
it is a tender and local governments have been given only a month to do a detailed
submission. The Leader of the Nationals WA said that it is short notice and
does not reflect a commitment from the Labor government to determine a suitable
site for the Bushfire Centre of Excellence. Members can see why there is
confusion out there amongst volunteers and members of the general public; the
opposition does not understand what we are doing.
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Moore!
Mr F.M. LOGAN : Let me make it
clear to the National Party.
Mr R.S. Love : Why did you put
out a tender when you don't want to?
The SPEAKER : Member for
Moore, I will be tendering you an early homecoming today if you keep
interjecting. I call you to order for the second time.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : Mr Speaker,
this is the first time I have realised that we have casual employment in Western
Australia as a member of Parliament, given that we have so few National Party
members in this house every single week of sitting. I know that members of the
National Party in the upper house take less notice of Nationals in this house
than we do, but it really would be appropriate if the member could explain to
them that the Department of Fire and Emergency Services called for a request
for proposal through Tenders WA because that was the advice from the Department
of Finance—to do it properly, with accountability and with
transparency. That is something that you guys completely forgot in government.
The Department of Fire and Emergency
Services understood the recommendations and findings of the Langoulant inquiry,
and that is why it followed the advice of the Department of Finance, whereby
local governments are involved in this process. Many local governments want to
be involved in the process. Do it openly. Do it with transparency and put that
request for proposal through Tenders WA. Can Nationals WA members understand
that now? If they can understand it, they should explain it to their
knuckleheads in the upper house.
very much for that question and for his involvement in that bushfire forum held
up there in his seat of Kalamunda. It was a very, very good day.
This gives me the opportunity to update
the house on the bushfire forum; I did inform the house before the forum took
place what we intended to do, but to repeat: as the member for Kalamunda knows,
there were representatives at the bushfire forum from local government, the
Pastoralists and Graziers Association, WAFarmers, many government departments,
volunteer associations and, of course, the volunteers themselves. In fact, 50 per
cent of participants in the bushfire forum were volunteers from the length and
breadth of Western Australia, from as far away as Kununurra and Esperance.
Mrs A.K. Hayden interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Darling Range, I do not want to hear your voice.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : The forum
discussed the work of the Rural Fire Division, as it is established at the
moment. We discussed the future of the Rural Fire Division and the type of work
that it does, the role of mitigation and how we can take the Rural Fire
Division forward. As the member knows, later in the afternoon we also discussed
the future of the Bushfire Centre of Excellence. That forum gave people an
opportunity, particularly the volunteers, to have input into how the Bushfire
Centre of Excellence should be structured, the type of training that should
take place at the Bushfire Centre of Excellence and their role and involvement
in the future of the Bushfire Centre of Excellence. It was terrific because the
advice that they provided, as the member knows because he was a part of the
working group, to the Department of Fire and Emergency Services and ourselves,
as government, will go a long way to assist us in designing the Bushfire Centre
of Excellence for Western Australia.
It is a pity, however, as the member
knows, that when I addressed the forum, I had to explain to forum attendees
about the behaviour of some people who are out there simply causing trouble
about the Bushfire Centre of Excellence. For example, we have had the Nationals
WA literally out in the media causing confusion and basically trying to mislead
the people of Western Australia about the whole process of establishing the
Bushfire Centre of Excellence. I do not know where the opposition stands on the
Bushfire Centre of Excellence and what it wants from the Bushfire Centre of
Excellence.
Mrs A.K. Hayden interjected.
The SPEAKER : I call the
member for Darling Range to order for the first time.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : For example,
Mr Speaker, Hon Dr Steve Thomas says that the Bushfire Centre of Excellence
should not be further north than Pinjarra. He said that on 1 October. Hon Martin
Aldridge put out a media release on 10 October saying that it should be in
Northam. At least Hon Dr Steve Thomas had read and understood what was on the
Tenders WA website, because he said, ''It's not a tender. It's
just an expression of interest.'' However, Hon Colin de Grussa said that
it is a tender and local governments have been given only a month to do a detailed
submission. The Leader of the Nationals WA said that it is short notice and
does not reflect a commitment from the Labor government to determine a suitable
site for the Bushfire Centre of Excellence. Members can see why there is
confusion out there amongst volunteers and members of the general public; the
opposition does not understand what we are doing.
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Moore!
Mr F.M. LOGAN : Let me make it
clear to the National Party.
Mr R.S. Love : Why did you put
out a tender when you don't want to?
The SPEAKER : Member for
Moore, I will be tendering you an early homecoming today if you keep
interjecting. I call you to order for the second time.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : Mr Speaker,
this is the first time I have realised that we have casual employment in Western
Australia as a member of Parliament, given that we have so few National Party
members in this house every single week of sitting. I know that members of the
National Party in the upper house take less notice of Nationals in this house
than we do, but it really would be appropriate if the member could explain to
them that the Department of Fire and Emergency Services called for a request
for proposal through Tenders WA because that was the advice from the Department
of Finance—to do it properly, with accountability and with
transparency. That is something that you guys completely forgot in government.
The Department of Fire and Emergency
Services understood the recommendations and findings of the Langoulant inquiry,
and that is why it followed the advice of the Department of Finance, whereby
local governments are involved in this process. Many local governments want to
be involved in the process. Do it openly. Do it with transparency and put that
request for proposal through Tenders WA. Can Nationals WA members understand
that now? If they can understand it, they should explain it to their
knuckleheads in the upper house.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.