Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to address a series of issues in relation to the coastal villages within my electorate of Flinders. The coastal villages are the magnificent towns of Blind Bight, Warneet, Cannons Creek and Tooradin, and to those you would also add Pearcedale, which, whilst not technically a coastal village, is certainly an honorary member of the group. I want to raise three things in relation to their future which I believe and they believe need to be addressed.

First, I have been contacted by a number of residents who are genuinely and deeply concerned about the fact that they are surrounded by coastal scrub, that they have just a single road providing access in and out of the townships and that as a consequence they are particularly vulnerable to scrub fires and bushfires. We have been very fortunate in the electorate of Flinders that no homes and no people have been lost to the tragic bushfires within Victoria. We have, however, seen at least two fires within the electorate, which were put out by the tremendous work of the local CFA. We have also seen that in the Casey City precinct there was a significant fire. Blind Bight, Warneet, Cannons Creek and Tooradin are all within Casey, so these are areas which are proximate and which are at risk. The message is very clear: the overgrown scrub in and around the foreshore is tinder dry. I know these towns and I know that people live there precisely because of the natural values, precisely because, whether it is Cannons Creek or Rutherford Inlet, they are beautiful waterways bounded by magnificent natural reserves. But the message from the people of these towns is, respectfully to the councils, to the Department of Sustainability and the Environment, to Parks Victoria where appropriate, that we need to thin out the undergrowth and we need to make sure that there is appropriate fuel reduction because these are areas with a dangerous combination of high scrub, highly untouched, right next to residential areas. Perhaps most concerning for those in Warneet, Cannons Creek and Blind Bight is that there is only one way out of town, there is only one road. If that were to be blocked in the course of a major fire then we would have an extraordinary risk.

As a consequence, we have seen that there has been a community meeting, that Blind Bight Community Centre had people come together to discuss their concerns, to raise their fears and to seek action. For my part I have written to Premier Brumby to seek his assistance in ensuring that the local councils are not only empowered but encouraged to take steps which will lead to fuel reduction and to seek his assistance that the DSE will also take those steps necessary to engage in fuel reduction. We need a regular program of fuel reduction in vulnerable local areas such as Blind Bight, Tooradin, Warneet, Cannons Creek and the nearby town of Pearcedale. I hope that these issues are taken forward as part of the royal commission. So first and foremost is the safety of the coastal village communities from what could be a terrible calamity, whether by accident or otherwise. They are vulnerable, they are relatively high-density areas of residential communities in such strong natural environments, and therefore they need high levels of protection.

Secondly, I want to make sure that we fight and fight to get gas to these communities. They have waited too long. They deserve a natural gas connection. They have not been given that by the state. We will fight for that and we commit to fighting for that.

Thirdly, that leads to the fact that in the near future I will be seeking a community meeting with the people of the coastal villages to work for the long term on the fire protection front, on the natural gas front and on any other issues which are of importance to the wonderful people of these great towns. I say I am with you when you seek help and protection, and we will do all that we can, firstly, to protect and, secondly, to ensure that you have the maximum utility in your own homes.