Bushfire Royal Commission evidence
by Peter Marshall UFUA
Witness statements and cross examination at the Victorian Bushfire Royal commission have revealed how a complex bureaucratic emergency management system failed on Black Saturday, February 6.
Authorities were unable to give bushfire threatened residents adequate warnings, nor could they track the path of the fires that killed 173 people across that tragic weekend.
Comms breakdown
A recent story on ABC television’s 7.30 Report reviewed evidence given to the Royal Commission over the last five weeks. It reported that Country Fire Authority (CFA) head, Russell Rees, has acknowledged failures and a breakdown in communications. The ABC report said evidence presented so far indicates “a pattern of confusion, late warnings, a bureaucratic system and rigid chain of command that struggled to cope on Black Saturday and in the days that followed.”
Stay or go
The Royal Commission hearings have also focused on the ‘stay or go’ policy; evidence indicates that most of the bushfire’s victims died at home.
UFUA National Secretary, Peter Marshall, told the program, “You’re seeing systemic problems that have probably cost lives and indeed done a lot of damage.” It appears that rivalry between Victoria’s Emergency Services authorities was also a problem. As Peter Marshall put it to the 7.30 Report, “… effectively you have three organisations, and if I can put it as bluntly as this; they all have a sandpit. You cannot play in my sandpit unless I invite you in.”
Failure to learn
The ‘stay or go policy’ has been criticised by witnesses at the Royal Commission for giving people a false confidence during bushfire emergencies. However, Peter Marshall points to the long standing complaint pursued by the UFUA – that the resources just aren’t on the ground to protect communities. He told the 7.30 Report, the policy is “a pseudo attempt, by default, to turn communities into fire fighting units because of lack of resources.”
“If we haven’t learnt from ’97, if we haven’t learnt from 2002 in Canberra, if we haven’t learnt from 2005 in Tasmania, and 2006 in South Australia, and we don’t learn from 2009, what does it say about our future?” said Peter Marshall.
http://www.ufua.asn.au/289.html
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