‍DR ANNE WEBSTER MP

SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TERRITORIES
SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MALLEE

TOPICS: Bushfires in Regional Victoria, resourcing of Country Fire Authority, volunteers and taxation, gratitude for volunteers

Seal  

Well, joining us live is Shadow Regional Development Minister Anne Webster, and thank you for joining us. You're in Victoria as well, you know fires too well. Unfortunately, you've been dealing with them over the years when we've had you on numerous times. But as Georgie mentioned, a statewide total fire ban, and we're certainly not out of the woods after this event, because authorities are saying it could be very, very soon, in the matter of days, even weeks, that we could see more hot temperatures in your state?  

Webster  

Absolutely Jaynie, thank you so much for having me on. Yes, Natimuk, in my region, has lost 10 to 15 homes. It's a town of only 512 residents, so it's a huge loss to that town. I know that the aged care facility yesterday in Natimuk had to make the decision, do we try and remove 36 residents, or do we just battle it out? They had ... they made the decision to stay, and the CFA kept them safe. But look, we really don't know. I can't get in there, that's for sure. And information is pretty slim on, I've been speaking with Horsham Rural City Council,  they've got the ICC set up in Horsham. I would certainly like more information from them. I know that communications are down in Natimuk and also in Strathbogie. I've been speaking to the mayor there. Communications are down because the power is out. So, you know, remedying that disaster is ... can you imagine having no power and no phone? How do you know what's actually going on around you? So that is pretty traumatic. Telstra is certainly working on both those situations. It is really devastating to be going through this and so widespread across Victoria I've been keeping a close eye on the CFA volunteers group who have been trying to get Jacinta Allan's attention for a long time now, through protests, through just sharing information, letters, et cetera, that the resources of the CFA are not adequate. Now, if you take, for example, Natimuk, yesterday, if it wasn't for the locals who were out walking around and putting water on spot fires, who knows would have happened to the rest of the town? I think that's critical to know. But the CFA have ... I've spoken with my shadow emergency services at federal level today, he said he's been talking with CFA members in Victoria. 20 trucks were in one convoy. The youngest truck is 22 years old. How is that okay? And yet, you know, the Emergency Services Tax was put on to literally for our firefighters to pay on their farms. These are the guys who go out and keep our communities safe. I know this is a time for measuring trauma and, you know, supporting our communities. Absolutely, but it's also time to challenge the Victorian Government about its cool burns, what percentage really happened, and to challenge them about how they're resourcing our Country Fire Authority. Because seriously, it's what I'm hearing across Victoria, is it's just not enough,

Seal  

And there's certainly immediate assistance for people that in the firing line of this particular situation, for the hotline and also relief centres they can go to for that information but yes, as you made mention, it certainly is the crisis phase at the moment Anne and I guess you know those volunteers, but everybody else who's really lending a hand is vital, and we're seeing that heat moving across into the south east of the country as well, including the ACT, in parts of New South Wales and also in Tasmania. We're looking at potentially overseas help as well, aren't we? Because, you know, as much as we have here, there is talk that the authorities were saying, will we need more supplies from overseas, which is what we, of course, do to other parts of the world when they need us.

Webster  

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I did hear the report that the Prime Minister is sending the ADF down to help with firefighting. That's good news. But more resources certainly need to be put into our firefighting teams. They can't fight if they don't have those resources. So, you know, there are times where we bring in planes, the water-carrying planes. I'm not sure what water tanker planes, I guess is their name. So they bring them across from America, depending on the fire season over there. So yeah, it's watch this space. We certainly need all hands on deck. And I just want to give a major shout out to our volunteers across Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, wherever you have come from to support our communities is just incredible, and we honour you.

Seal  

We certainly do. It is an emotional time. Anne Webster, we know that you have certainly, over the years, really helped so much with fires and it's ... yeah, it is. It's been a very tough year for so many people and and it's certainly not over yet. Thank you, Anne, we'll let you go. We're thinking of everybody there affected.

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