COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Official Committee Hansard HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE RECENT AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRES Reference: The recent Australian bushfires THURSDAY, 10 JULY 2003 COOMA BY AUTHORITY OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES INTERNET The Proof and Official Hansard transcripts of Senate committee hearings, some House of Representatives committee hearings and some joint committee hearings are available on the Internet. Some House of Representatives committees and some joint committees make available only Official Hansard transcripts. The Internet address is: http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard To search the parliamentary database, go to: http://search.aph.gov.au HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE RECENT AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRES Thursday, 10 July 2003 Members: Mr Nairn (Chair), Mr Adams (Deputy Chair), Mr Bartlett, Mr Causley, Ms Ellis, Mrs Gash, Mr Gibbons, Mr Hawker, Mr McArthur, Mr Mossfield, Mr O’Connor, Mr Organ, Ms Panopoulos and Mr Schultz. Members in attendance: Mr Bartlett, Mr McArthur, Mr Nairn, Mr Organ, Ms Panopoulos and Mr Schultz. Terms of reference for the inquiry: The Select Committee on the recent Australian Bushfires seeks to identify measures that can be implemented by governments, industry and the community to minimise the incidence of, and impact of bushfires on, life, property and the environment with specific regard to the following. (a) the extent and impact of the bushfires on the environment, private and public assets and local communities; (b) the causes of and risk factors contributing to the impact and severity of the bushfires, including land management practices and policies in national parks, state forests, other Crown land and private property; (c) the adequacy and economic and environmental impact of hazard reduction and other strategies for bushfire prevention, suppression and control; (d) appropriate land management policies and practices to mitigate the damage caused by bushfires to the environment, property, community facilities and infrastructure and the potential environmental impact of such policies and practices; (e) any alternative or developmental bushfire mitigation and prevention approaches, and the appropriate direction of research into bushfire mitigation; (f) the appropriateness of existing planning and building codes, particularly with respect to urban design and land use planning, in protecting life and property from bushfires; (g) the adequacy of current response arrangements for firefighting; (h) the adequacy of deployment of firefighting resources, including an examination of the efficiency and effectiveness of resource sharing between agencies and jurisdictions; (i) liability, insurance coverage and related matters; (j) the roles and contributions of volunteers, including current management practices and future trends, taking into account changing social and economic factors. WITNESSES ALLEN, Mrs Beverley, Member, Cooma District Council of the New South Wales Farmers Association........................................................................................................................................................ 83 APPS, Mr Michael Charles Seymour, Owner/Managing Director, Polo Flat Airfield............................ 112 BLYTON, Mr Richard Ian, President, Past Captain and Volunteer, Nimmitabel Bushfire Brigade................................................................................................................................................................ 2 BOTTOM, Mr Peter, Group Captain, Rural Fire Service, Snowy River Shire........................................... 2 CLIFFORD, Mr Kim Andrew, General Manager, Kosciusko Thredbo Pty Ltd....................................... 71 COTTRELL, Mr Thomas Clive, Group Captain, Bombala Rural Fire Service.......................................... 2 DIXON, Mr Darvall Sinclair, Group Captain, Rural Fire Service, Snowy River Shire.............................. 2 DOBBYNS, Mr George Ross (Private capacity) ........................................................................................... 61 FLETCHER, Mr David Edward, Brigade Captain, Rocky Plain Bushfire Brigade ................................... 2 GALLARD, Mr Angel John (Private capacity)........................................................................................... 117 GLASSON, Mr David, Volunteer, Numbla Vale Rural Fire Service.......................................................... 23 GRAY, Mr Graham John (Private capacity) ................................................................................................ 61 GREEN, Mr Michael James, Director, Cooma Rural Lands Protection Board ........................................ 98 HART, Mr Terence William, Treasurer, Access for All Inc. ....................................................................... 36 HUGGETT, Mr Garry John, Property and Development Manager, Kosciusko Thredbo Pty Ltd ......... 71 JURSKIS, Mr Vic (Private capacity) ............................................................................................................. 61 KING, Mr John Norris, President and Area Deputy, Berridale Rural Fire Brigade .................................. 2 LITCHFIELD, Mr Charles (Ian) Antony, Treasurer, Cooma District Council of the New South Wales Farmers Association............................................................................................................................. 83 LITCHFIELD, Mr James, Member, Cooma District Council of the New South Wales Farmers Association........................................................................................................................................................ 83 MACKAY, Mr Stephen Barry, Captain, Dry Plains Rural Fire Service...................................................... 2 MAGUIRE, Mr Robert Edward, Member, Cooma District Council of the New South Wales Farmers Association......................................................................................................................................... 83 McKINNEY, Mr Ross, General Manager, Snowy River Shire Council ..................................................... 47 MITCHELL, Mrs Susan Kathrine, Chairman, Cooma District Council of the New South Wales Farmers Association......................................................................................................................................... 83 PHILLIPS, Mr Winston Churchill, Deputy Mayor, Cooma-Monaro Shire Council; Chairman, District Bushfire Management Committee; Chairman, Cooma-Monaro Shire Rural Fire Service Captains Committee................................................................................................................................... 1, 107 RAWLINGS, Mr David, General Manager, Bombala Council ................................................................... 47 REID, Mr Philip Alan, Group Captain, Rural Fire Service, Snowy River Shire......................................... 2 SNELL, Mr John Charles, Member, Access for All Inc............................................................................... 36 WADDELL, Mr Donald (Neil), Chair, Access for All Inc............................................................................ 36 WALTERS, Mr Ross Anthony, Group Captain, Rural Fire Service, Snowy River Shire .......................... 2 WALTERS, Mr Sidney William, Director, Cooma Rural Lands Protection Board.................................. 98 Thursday, 10 July 2003 REPS BUSHFIRES 1 Committee met at 8.59 a.m. PHILLIPS, Mr Winston Churchill, Deputy Mayor, Cooma-Monaro Shire, Chairman, District Bushfire Management Committee, and Chairman, Cooma-Monaro Shire Rural Fire Service Captains Committee CHAIR—I declare open this public hearing of the House of Representatives Select Committee on the Recent Australian Bushfires. Today’s hearing is the fourth one of this inquiry, following hearings in Nowra, Katoomba and Richmond over the last couple of days. It is part of the committee’s program of hearings in and visits to different parts of Australia. The hearings and visits allow us to pursue some of the issues raised in the 440 written submissions to the inquiry. The committee will be visiting rural areas to see at first hand and hear about some of the issues raised by the serious fires that have occurred in recent years. Before we hear from our first witnesses, I ask the Deputy Mayor of Cooma-Monaro Shire Council, Mr Winston Phillips, to welcome the committee to this region. Mr Phillips—On behalf of the Cooma-Monaro Shire and our Mayor, Tony Kaltoum, I would like to welcome you here to our council chambers and our council meeting room. On behalf of the three shires, I would like to thank the federal parliamentary committee, which has been put together as a result of a lot of lobbying done by our local member, Gary Nairn. We certainly appreciate it in this area. There has been an enormous amount of work done, as can be seen from all the submissions that have been put together by local people. Looking at the list of names, I know the majority of these people, particularly those listed on the first page. I have worked for nearly 16 years in this area. All I can say to the committee is: listen well, because these people have hundreds of years of experience between them. They are terrific people who know what they are talking about. Listen well, and take note of what they have to say. Thank you for organising this, Gary. CHAIR—Thank you, Winston, for the welcome. We appreciate the council facilitating the committee’s