Concerns have been raised to suggest Canberra’s not ready for the upcoming fire season.
Opposition Emergency Services spokesman JAMES MILLIGAN says there’s a problem.
He’s called on the ACT Labor-Greens government to fully commit to reinstating the Namadgi National Park fire trail
network.
Mr Milligan slammed the Minister for Emergency Services for overstating the preparedness
of the ACT for the upcoming bushfire season, when he knew the fire trails were not up to
the standard they were before the 2020 Orroral Fires.
“The Minister stood up in the Assembly in September and reported that Canberra was well
prepared for the upcoming fire season, ‘better than ever before’, yet his responses during
question time last week were contrary to that,” Mr Milligan said.
“The Minister also admitted that the top end of Namadgi National Park was still not
accessible to fire fighters, and that they would not be able to get large flow trucks, that
deliver other firefighting equipment, such as bulldozers, up to the Cotter Hut.
“The inability to get to the Cotter Hut impacts on the water resource preparedness, in
response to the fires. Especially important when he also admitted that the Corin Dam is also
not yet accessible for water supplies.”
Mr Milligan said it was insulting to all Canberrans, for the Minister to assure that Canberra
was more prepared than ever before, when he knew that was certainly not the case.
“It seems this government has not learned the lessons of the fires in either 2003 or the
more recent ones of 2019-2020.
“I am calling on the Minister to come clean to Canberrans and report back to the Assembly
on the final sitting date this year on the true state of all the fire trails and how prepared we
really are.
The post Is Canberra Ready for Bushfires? appeared first on 2CC Talking Canberra.
