Wednesday, 16 October 2024

Ministers statements: bushfire preparedness

Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:43): Talking about country Victoria, many of the issues I want to brief the chamber on today affect country Victorians, because I want to update the house on the extensive work that our emergency services organisations are doing to ensure that we are as prepared as possible for the upcoming high-risk season. Each year climate change creates new risks, extending the length of the season, the frequency of events and the crossing over of seasons and potentially elevating the severity when a fire or flood does occur. It means that we need to plan carefully.

Last week I was briefed by the State Control Centre by agencies on how they have prepared ahead of the high-risk weather season. It included the CFA, FRV, Forest Fire Management, Life Saving Victoria, the Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria Police, Triple Zero Victoria and the emergency management commissioner. This attendance is of course reflective of what happens in an emergency. When there is a crisis, our emergency services sector work as one. It is a truly incredible undertaking of team effort.

I am confident that going into the high-risk season our agencies are prepared to keep Victorians safe. As I was referring to with Mrs Tyrrell earlier, we are just shy of having 52,000 dedicated CFA volunteers ready to respond to fires this summer. It is an increase of volunteer numbers compared to last year. Our government is supporting our first responders with access to a world-class aerial fleet, with details of the fleet to be announced soon. I am going to pre-empt, for the benefit of the chamber: there is no reduction in the aerial fleet as compared to the year before. I am sure I will be repeating that several times – but anyway.

I would like to thank the hardworking Parliamentary Secretary for Emergency Services for her engagement and joining me in thanking our hardworking emergency services staff and volunteers for the work that they are doing to prepare for the season ahead. This is of course a timely reminder that preparedness is a shared responsibility between emergency services and the community.

Let us remind all our country communities, in particular the peri-urban, to download the VicEmergency app, prepare their homes and make their fire plans. Do your part so that agencies can do theirs. And a reminder that at lunchtime there is a briefing for non-government MPs on the fire preparedness season in your opposition party room.