❓ Mrs. Clarke asks the Minister for Emergency Services to update the house on the government's bushfire mitigation investments and reforms. The Minister details significant investments, reforms, and initiatives undertaken by the McGowan government since 2017, contrasting them with the previous government's inaction.
AnsweredQoN 964Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
BUSHFIRE MANAGEMENT
964. Mrs R.M.J. CLARKE to the Minister for Emergency
Services:
Before
I ask my question to the Minister for Emergency Services, I want to thank him
for his service to the emergency services, and in particular to the
emergency services in Murray–Wellington.
The SPEAKER : That is a preamble.
Get to the question. We do not want to pump him up too much!
Mrs R.M.J. CLARKE : I refer
to the McGowan Labor government's efforts in keeping WA safe and
strong. Can the minister update the house on
this government's record investment in bushfire mitigation across Western
Australia and its unprecedented reforms to rural bush fire fighting
across the state?
964. Mrs R.M.J. CLARKE to the Minister for Emergency
Services:
Before
I ask my question to the Minister for Emergency Services, I want to thank him
for his service to the emergency services, and in particular to the
emergency services in Murray–Wellington.
The SPEAKER : That is a preamble.
Get to the question. We do not want to pump him up too much!
Mrs R.M.J. CLARKE : I refer
to the McGowan Labor government's efforts in keeping WA safe and
strong. Can the minister update the house on
this government's record investment in bushfire mitigation across Western
Australia and its unprecedented reforms to rural bush fire fighting
across the state?
AnswerView source ↗
Thank you.
Mr W.J. Johnston : That is a good
question.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : It is a very
good question, because the bushfire season is nearly upon us. Can I acknowledge
the member for Murray–Wellington's relationship with all the
bushfire volunteers in her seat, and what a fantastic relationship she has with
them, having visited virtually most of them with her over the last couple of
years.
If members remember back to March
or April 2017 and what the incoming McGowan government was left with in the
area of emergency services, we were left with the Ferguson report and all the
recommendations from the Ferguson report, none of which had been addressed by
the previous government. It was left to the McGowan Labor government to sort
those out, and we did. April 2017 marked the beginning of the new bushfire
management reform, with record mitigation; the commitment to, and now the
completion of, Australia's first Bushfire Centre of Excellence; better
funding and support for local governments; and improved relationships with, and
training for, all volunteers in Western Australia.
Members will remember that I had to
kick it all off. I held the inaugural bushfire mitigation summit in Mandurah back on 23 June 2017, and that set the direction
and the objectives for the reform program going forward. Over the last nearly four years, the Fire and Emergency
Services Commissioner and I have travelled over 100 000 kilometres in Western Australia, and we have met thousands of
volunteers. We have established a ministerial volunteer advisory forum
with the bodies that represent all the volunteers in Western Australia, and we
have met four times. We have established volunteer liaison officers in the Fire
and Emergency Services Commissioner's office. We have created 11 volunteer management officer positions in the
regions to assist the volunteers with their increasing administrative duties. We have expanded the State Bushfire Advisory Council, and that has
since met three times, and we are currently working on the state bushfire
policy for emergency services going forward. We have transformed the approach
to rural fire management in Western Australia, and no more than in the area of
bushfire mitigation. We have put a record $50 million into keeping our state
safe from the threat of bushfire. We have done more here than any other state
in Australia has done.
The Treasurer referred earlier to
Labor being the friend and being the party of rural people, and we are. We are
the party of rural Western Australia. Think about the amount of money that we
have put into rural Western Australia for meaningful projects to improve the
lives and safety of country people. In the area of mitigation, just in the member for Moore's electorate, between
2017 and this year we will have put $3.93 million into the areas of Toodyay ,
Carnamah, Chittering, Gingin, Irwin and Northampton. That has never been done
by previous governments, and particularly previous Liberal–National
Party governments. In the member for Roe's electorate, over that period
of time we will have invested $2.83 million
in Woodanilling, Cuballing, Narrogin, Wagin, Ravensthorpe, West Arthur ,
Williams and York. National MPs have never done that before in those areas.
In the area of the member for
Warren–Blackwood—who has disappeared—in Nannup, Boyup
Brook, Bridgetown, Greenbushes, Denmark and Manjimup, we have invested $4 million
in bushfire mitigation, working with local governments, to make those towns
safer and to make those people feel that the threat of bushfire will not
consume them. We have done things that the
National Party, which supposedly represents people in country Western Australia, did not even dream about. It has only been Labor that has protected the people
of country Western Australia and reformed the approach to bushfire management
in Western Australia.
Mr W.J. Johnston : That is a good
question.
Mr F.M. LOGAN : It is a very
good question, because the bushfire season is nearly upon us. Can I acknowledge
the member for Murray–Wellington's relationship with all the
bushfire volunteers in her seat, and what a fantastic relationship she has with
them, having visited virtually most of them with her over the last couple of
years.
If members remember back to March
or April 2017 and what the incoming McGowan government was left with in the
area of emergency services, we were left with the Ferguson report and all the
recommendations from the Ferguson report, none of which had been addressed by
the previous government. It was left to the McGowan Labor government to sort
those out, and we did. April 2017 marked the beginning of the new bushfire
management reform, with record mitigation; the commitment to, and now the
completion of, Australia's first Bushfire Centre of Excellence; better
funding and support for local governments; and improved relationships with, and
training for, all volunteers in Western Australia.
Members will remember that I had to
kick it all off. I held the inaugural bushfire mitigation summit in Mandurah back on 23 June 2017, and that set the direction
and the objectives for the reform program going forward. Over the last nearly four years, the Fire and Emergency
Services Commissioner and I have travelled over 100 000 kilometres in Western Australia, and we have met thousands of
volunteers. We have established a ministerial volunteer advisory forum
with the bodies that represent all the volunteers in Western Australia, and we
have met four times. We have established volunteer liaison officers in the Fire
and Emergency Services Commissioner's office. We have created 11 volunteer management officer positions in the
regions to assist the volunteers with their increasing administrative duties. We have expanded the State Bushfire Advisory Council, and that has
since met three times, and we are currently working on the state bushfire
policy for emergency services going forward. We have transformed the approach
to rural fire management in Western Australia, and no more than in the area of
bushfire mitigation. We have put a record $50 million into keeping our state
safe from the threat of bushfire. We have done more here than any other state
in Australia has done.
The Treasurer referred earlier to
Labor being the friend and being the party of rural people, and we are. We are
the party of rural Western Australia. Think about the amount of money that we
have put into rural Western Australia for meaningful projects to improve the
lives and safety of country people. In the area of mitigation, just in the member for Moore's electorate, between
2017 and this year we will have put $3.93 million into the areas of Toodyay ,
Carnamah, Chittering, Gingin, Irwin and Northampton. That has never been done
by previous governments, and particularly previous Liberal–National
Party governments. In the member for Roe's electorate, over that period
of time we will have invested $2.83 million
in Woodanilling, Cuballing, Narrogin, Wagin, Ravensthorpe, West Arthur ,
Williams and York. National MPs have never done that before in those areas.
In the area of the member for
Warren–Blackwood—who has disappeared—in Nannup, Boyup
Brook, Bridgetown, Greenbushes, Denmark and Manjimup, we have invested $4 million
in bushfire mitigation, working with local governments, to make those towns
safer and to make those people feel that the threat of bushfire will not
consume them. We have done things that the
National Party, which supposedly represents people in country Western Australia, did not even dream about. It has only been Labor that has protected the people
of country Western Australia and reformed the approach to bushfire management
in Western Australia.
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.