WHAT WE LEARNT
A REVIEW of last summer’s bushfires has found shortcomings in how the two major blazes were handled.
While the official review generally praised the work of those on the ground, it found shor shortcomings in the response to th the Gell River and Geeveston fires — and suggested faste faster aerial support.
It also called for better coordination in relation to how fires are fought and change in ho how warnings are issued.
T The review comes as the Mer Mercury can reveal all remote firefighting operations have been suspended amid repo reports of safety breaches.
THE main findings of the bushfires review reflected the Government's failure to learn from previous reviews, Labor’s Police, Fire and Emergency Services spokesman Shane Broad said.
Dr Broad yesterday peppered his government counterpart with question about the long-awaited report before its release, having obtained a leaked copy early. He said the key recommendation from two independent reports into the 2016 bushfires was for volunteer remote area firefighting teams — and the latest report has done the same.
“The Liberal Government stands condemned for its failure to invest in remote area teams, despite the recommendations of multiple reports,” he said. “Labor understands that not a single volunteer has yet been trained in remote area firefighting. This is a serious failing that has left our community and our environment at greater risk from bushfires.”
And he said the Government must explain why there was no Aerial Intelligence Gathering aircraft in Tasmania to assist with the firefighting effort — something which hampered the fight against the big Gell River fire.
Police, Fire and Emergency Services Minister Mark Shelton said the report would help improve future firefighting efforts and 80 remote area firefighters were being trained.
He said the Government accepted in principle all nine recommendations.
“I’m only a new minister and I’m fully aware that since coming in the agencies have been working together before the report came out to overcome some of the issues that they saw coming out of the fires,” he said.
Acting Tasmania Fire Service chief Bruce Byatt welcomed the report as part of the fire services’ process of continual improvement.
“In terms of the areas burnt and in terms of the resourcing that was required, this was by far the biggest fire that’s been experienced by the state.
“The review provides an important opportunity for us to look at the whole of the fire season and identify what was done well, what systems we have that worked well ... and at the same time we don’t shy away from the fact that there are areas that we can learn and improve from,’’ he said.
“You can always almost certainly find where decisions could have been made better or more informed, and that always comes from the benefit of hindsight.”