❓ Ms. Quirk questions the Premier about the exclusion of submissions from the Keelty report on the Margaret River bushfires and seeks assurance that the independent reviewer will have access to them. The Premier acknowledges the question and commits to inquiring about the submissions' public availability.
AnsweredQoN 49Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MARGARET RIVER BUSHFIRES — KEELTY
REPORT — SUBMISSIONS
49. Ms M.M. QUIRK to the Premier:
I refer to the Keelty report into the Margaret River fires,
in which reference is made to 80 pieces of correspondence, letters and emails
by way of submission that were received by the inquiry. Although many of these
were deemed not to fall within the terms of reference, those that did address
the terms of reference were not appended to the report.
(1) Given that
all submissions to Keelty 1, a total of four volumes, were included in the
final report, why was that not done in this case?
(2) Will the
Premier undertake to provide the independent reviewer of the Department of
Environment and Conservation and Fire and Emergency Services Authority internal
reviews full access to all submissions?
(3) Is the
Premier aware of whether DEC and FESA have completed their own internal reviews
into the Margaret River fires?
REPORT — SUBMISSIONS
49. Ms M.M. QUIRK to the Premier:
I refer to the Keelty report into the Margaret River fires,
in which reference is made to 80 pieces of correspondence, letters and emails
by way of submission that were received by the inquiry. Although many of these
were deemed not to fall within the terms of reference, those that did address
the terms of reference were not appended to the report.
(1) Given that
all submissions to Keelty 1, a total of four volumes, were included in the
final report, why was that not done in this case?
(2) Will the
Premier undertake to provide the independent reviewer of the Department of
Environment and Conservation and Fire and Emergency Services Authority internal
reviews full access to all submissions?
(3) Is the
Premier aware of whether DEC and FESA have completed their own internal reviews
into the Margaret River fires?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the
member for the question.
(1)–(3) The person to
conduct the independent review is yet to be appointed. A process is underway to
appoint someone who has the qualifications and experience and is clearly
independent to provide that incident report. With respect to the submissions
made, I thought the member was going to ask whether they would be made public,
but I do not think she actually asked that.
Ms M.M. Quirk : I
expected they would be made public in the report.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
Okay; I was not quite sure. I thought that was where the question was heading
but it then went somewhere else. With respect to that —
Ms M.M. Quirk : Or
will they?
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
With respect to the submissions, Mr Keelty chose not to include them. I am not
sure why he chose not to do so. Sometimes, particularly in a case such as this
involving a lot of accusations being made against individuals working within
the Department of Environment and Conservation, people may well have made
submissions without wanting them to be made public. I think that may need to be
respected if that is the case. I will inquire of the Public Sector Commissioner
what will happen to those submissions and whether they will be made public.
They would certainly be available to the independent reviewer if requested.
member for the question.
(1)–(3) The person to
conduct the independent review is yet to be appointed. A process is underway to
appoint someone who has the qualifications and experience and is clearly
independent to provide that incident report. With respect to the submissions
made, I thought the member was going to ask whether they would be made public,
but I do not think she actually asked that.
Ms M.M. Quirk : I
expected they would be made public in the report.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
Okay; I was not quite sure. I thought that was where the question was heading
but it then went somewhere else. With respect to that —
Ms M.M. Quirk : Or
will they?
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
With respect to the submissions, Mr Keelty chose not to include them. I am not
sure why he chose not to do so. Sometimes, particularly in a case such as this
involving a lot of accusations being made against individuals working within
the Department of Environment and Conservation, people may well have made
submissions without wanting them to be made public. I think that may need to be
respected if that is the case. I will inquire of the Public Sector Commissioner
what will happen to those submissions and whether they will be made public.
They would certainly be available to the independent reviewer if requested.
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