THE Liberal candidate for the McEwen electorate, Cameron Caine, has warned the State Government that it has only weeks to sort out some of the recommendations of the Bushfire Royal Commission
Cameron says people who live in the fire-prone areas of the McEwen electorate need complete clarity on the “stay or go” and “ordered evacuation” policies.
Under a key recommendation that will impact directly on Victorians affected by bushfires, “authorities” may have control over “managed evacuations”
“It’s unclear what role the CFA would play in the evacuations,” Mr Caine said.
“At this stage it seems people will be evacuated to designated bushfire shelters, but many residents in fire-prone areas aren’t sure about the details of these shelters.
“We can’t afford a repetition of last summer’s confusion over the Code Red catastrophic fire rating which appeared at times to be a work in progress.”
Cameron fears that the proposed changes are a recipe for more confusion and says that the State Government needs to urgently address this issue and educate people prior to the start of summer.
Cameron Caine is a former CFA volunteer and one of the two police officers on duty at Kinglake throughout the night of February 7, 2009.
Meanwhile, the retired Member for McEwen, Fran Bailey, commended the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission.
Fran said recommendations to replace the Fire Services Levy, introduce a national education program, overhaul the structure of police and emergency services and placing powerlines underground were welcomed.
"I wholeheartedly support each of these recommendations and the way in which the commissioners have looked to provide action to avoid a disaster like Black Saturday ever happening again," Fran said.
"The recommendations of the Royal Commission must be implemented without delay by the State Government so there is not a repeat of the tragedy that was Black Saturday.
"The Fire Services Levy in its current form had led many people in our communities to either under insure or not insure,” Fran said.
"The final report's recommendation for safe shelters and criticism of the slow response to implementing refuges and shelters for our communities in fire-risk areas further illustrates the importance of protecting people from fire."
Fran also welcomed the recommendation for greater fuel reduction work by VicRoads but said it was disappointing that the commission had put the target at just five per cent on public lands.
"There is a backlog of fuel reduction work right across Victoria and five per cent is an insufficient level to achieve the desired results," Fran said. "A more meaningful level should be 10 per cent."
Fran was also surprised that the Royal Commission's final recommendations did not include action to install early fire detection technology.
"The commission rightly identified that the best opportunity to bring a bushfire under control is at or near the point of ignition when the fire is small," Fran said.
"I believe the commissioners should have taken this finding a step further with a recommendation on early fire detection technology as I called for in my submission to the Royal Commission.
The former MP, whose electorate was hardest hit on Black Saturday, said the commission had made a vital recommendation for the transparent and independent assessment of the response to its recommendations.
"We had major inquiries and commissions after Ash Wednesday in 1983, Black Friday in 1939 and other disasters since 1851.
"Each time, our communities and governments said it must never happen again but sadly, on Black Saturday 2009 it did. This time we must honour the memory of the 173 people who perished on that day and the thousands who survived the inferno by taking every step possible to protect our communities."
