Tuesday 5 January 2010
BRUMBY MUST FIX WARNING FAILURES
The Brumby Government must rectify the problems plaguing Victoria’s bushfire warning systems if Victorians are to have faith in the state’s bushfire preparedness, Shadow Minister for Bushfire Response and Leader of The Nationals Peter Ryan said.
The CFA has been forced to apologise after it was discovered the Victorian Bushfire Information Line (VBIL) was yesterday giving advice that was 12 days old, despite the presence of fires at Lake Mokoan and Mt Clear.
Mr Ryan said it was unacceptable the VBIL should fail again.
“If we’re going to have these systems, the government must ensure they are reliable and are operating correctly,” Mr Ryan said.
“The VBIL is one of the key components of the suite of mechanisms designed to warn Victorians of the threat of bushfires.
“Bushfire-prone communities rely on the information provided by the bushfire information line to make life and death decisions.
“The reliability of the hotline is vital in the country where not everyone has ready access to the internet.”
Mr Ryan said the Brumby Government had failed to rectify problems across the emergency warning network.
“The failure of the VBIL comes just weeks after the CFA website crashed on a day of extreme fire danger and Emergency Services Minister Bob Cameron told Victorians to listen to the radio for more reliable information,” Mr Ryan said.
“In November, a test warning about a large, fast moving and out of control fire in the Otways was inadvertently posted on the CFA’s website.
“The repeated failure of these key warning systems is undermining the confidence of bushfire-prone communities.
“The government was warned about the inconsistency of information distributed to the VBIL in 2006, yet it wasn’t until the system experienced complete failure on Black Saturday that the government acted on recommendations to improve the reliability of information.”
Mr Ryan said responsibility for rectifying the failures of the system lay squarely with the government.
“Premier Brumby has insisted on single representation for all government agencies and departments before the Bushfire Royal Commission, therefore he must accept the responsibility of rectifying these failures,” Mr Ryan said.
