The Executive may, by instrument, appoint 1 or more persons as a board of
inquiry to inquire into a matter specified in the instrument of appointment.
Defamation and fire inquiry
47/03
ABC TRIAL BY INNUENDO, GUILTY BY GOSSIP
Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, today challenged the anonymous sources criticising the ACT Emergency Services Bureau to identify themselves and contribute to the formal inquiries established to review all aspects relating to the management of the bushfires.
The Chief Ministers comments followed the broadcast of criticism of the ACT Emergency Services Bureau response by anonymous sources on the ABC AM program.
“I believe we need to question the accuracy and reliability of this anonymous criticism, made in such an underhand way when we have put in place comprehensive independent review processes.
“Two comprehensive inquiries have been established to examine all aspects of the preparation for and response to the January bushfires.
“I have appointed the former Commonwealth Ombudsman, Mr Ron McLeod, to lead a serious and far reaching examination of all aspects of the lead up to and management of the bushfires.
“In addition to this, the Coroner Maria Doogan is conducting an inquest into ‘the manner and cause of death’ of those tragically killed in the fires and, under Section 18 of the Coroners Act 1997, will inquire into ‘the cause and origin’ of the fires.
“These are exhaustive inquiries that will leave no stone unturned in examining the actions of all agencies and Emergency Services management. There will be a close and uncompromising inquiry into every decision or action taken by everyone involved with the fire.
“I am however appalled that in the face of these two inquiries we are yet again confronted by cowardly anonymous sources attacking our services through the media.
“The report was typical of a number of reports and articles which appear to be based on personal opinions and the perspective of people who either have criticisms of aspects of the firefighting efforts or are based alternative views about dealing with the fires developed in hindsight.
“For the record, the New South Wales Rural Fire Services Commissioner, Phil Koperberg, has stated he made no offer of assistance to the ACT authorities that was rejected.
“I am disappointed that the ABC not only didn’t bother to check the accuracy of the scuttlebutt that it broadcast but that it also feels justified in conducting a trial by media, based on innuendo, gossip and false allegations from faceless and unnamed critics.
“The only responsible way of dealing with this informal commentary is to have it considered by the inquiry process to be undertaken by Mr McLeod and through the very detailed forensic examination to be undertaken by the Coroner.
“These processes will be rigorous, independent and methodical. They will provide the community with a reliable account of events and detailed analysis of the various responses throughout the three weeks of firefighting during January 2003.
“The people of Canberra are entitled to question both the professionalism and motivation of the ABC and the credibility and motivation of the unnamed sources who don’t have the guts to go on the record and contribute to the formal inquiries,” said Mr Stanhope.
The terms of reference of the McLeod Inquiry and a media release from the ACT Chief Coroner are attached.
Released: 19 February 2003
Inquiries: Penny Farnsworth: 6205 0434(w) 6282 4347(h) 0417
481 407(m)
Terms of Reference
The disastrous ACT bushfires of January 2003 caused the deaths of four people and a heavy loss of private and public property. The Government proposes to undertake an Inquiry into the preparation for and operational response to those bushfires by the ACT’s emergency services in order to identify improvements that might enhance the capacity to respond effectively to large scale events of that kind.
The Inquiry will examine and report on the adequacy of the response to the bushfires by the ACT Emergency Services Bureau and its components (ACT Bushfire Services, ACT Emergency Services, ACT Fire Brigade and ACT Ambulance Service) and other relevant agencies, including ACT Policing, Environment ACT and ACT Forests with particular reference
to:
i) the preparation, planning and response to the bushfires and of strategies for the evaluation and management of bushfire threat and risk;
ii) ESB’s management structure, command and control arrangements, and public information strategy;
iii) the coordination and cooperative arrangements with other ACT and interstate, Commonwealth and non-government agencies, including utility providers, for managing such emergencies; and
iv) the adequacy of ESB’s equipment, communications’ systems, training and resources.
In undertaking its work, the Inquiry Team will consult closely with the Coroner conducting inquests into the deaths caused by the bushfires to avoid any interference with the process of inquiry being directed by her.
The Inquiry is also to advise the Government on the ACT’s overall structure for dealing with emergency situations, given the Territory’s unique context (geographic, population, financial and administrative), including the operation of the Emergency Management Act. In providing this advice, the Inquiry should make reference to arrangements that exist in other jurisdictions for dealing with emergencies.
The Inquiry Team will report to the Chief Minister by 30 June 2003, in order that relevant recommendations that may result from the Inquiry may be fully implemented prior to the onset of the 2003-04 bushfire season.
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF CORONER
MEDIA RELEASE
For distribution on 19 February, 2003
Coronial investigation into bushfires progressing well
ACT Chief Coroner, Ron Cahill, today advised that considerable progress has been made with the Coronial Inquiry into the cause and origin of the January bushfires and the manner and cause of the tragic deaths associated with them.
“The Coroner, Magistrate Doogan, has established a special team of investigators and is meeting regularly with them. She has also toured the worst affected areas and conducted an aerial inspection of the entire fire area to better understand the impact of this event” Mr Cahill said.
There has also been close liaison with the Director of Public Prosecutions, who will provide Counsel to assist the coroner, and lines of communication have been opened with the NSW State Coroner to ensure that any cross-border issues are addressed and that information is shared between jurisdictions.
The investigation team is receiving good co-operation from Emergency Service managers and hundreds of relevant documents have been seized and taken into the custody of the Coroner. Plans are being made to ensure that the huge amount of information which will have to be processed by the coronial team is assisted by the latest information technology.
The Coroner proposes to hold an early Directions Hearing to deal with applications from people interested in making submissions to or being heard by the Inquiry, and to set a hearing timetable. That Directions Hearing will take place as soon as the investigative phase of the inquiry is further advanced.
“The independent administrative review being conducted by Mr McLeod will, no doubt, also provide useful input to the Coroner’s Inquiry” Mr Cahill said.
Chief Coroner Cahill will not be available for media interview.
Law Courts of the Australian Capital Territory
Canberra City, A.C.T. 2601
G.P.O. Box 370 Telephone (02) 6217 4231
Jon Stanhope MLA
CHIEF MINISTER
ATTORNEY GENERAL MINISTER FOR COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT
MEMBER FOR GINNINDERRA
Questions being asked about Canberra fire losses
AM – Wednesday, February 19, 2003 8:04
LINDA MOTTRAM: One month after the Canberra fires that destroyed more than 500 houses and killed four people, a picture is emerging of just how so much was lost.
There’s broad agreement that the drought and extreme weather combined to produce a firestorm of extraordinary proportion and unpredictable severity but there are those who are also convinced that if warnings had been heeded, the massive losses could have been contained. And those critics are now beginning to speak out, hoping that the mistakes aren’t repeated.
From Canberra, Alexandra Kirk reports.
ALEXANDRA KIRK: Three days before Saturday’s disastrous firestorm, the weather bureau warned of impending horrendous conditions.
That Wednesday afternoon, the heavy hitters of fire fighting in New South Wales and the ACT met in Queanbeyan, a stone’s throw from Canberra, to discuss what to do.
Sources have told AM that present were the ACT fire chief, Peter Lucas Smith, New South Wales fire chief, Phil Koperberg, and one of his deputies, along with New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife head, Brian Gilligan.
With fires in the ACT and adjoining areas in New South Wales already burning, AM understands the ACT was warned of a massive exposure if the dire weather conditions materialised. AM also understands New South Wales made an open ended offer of assistance.
The ACT asked for just four task forces, that is twenty fire trucks and crews. They were in place by Friday and on the Saturday morning, seeing the dire forecast was right, Phil Koperberg dispatched his assistant commissioner to Canberra. That’s a breach of protocol, but the view was circumstances were dire.
At about half past one, Mr Koperberg’s assistant advised Sydney the ACT needed a lot more help, faced with houses being exposed to the fire path on a thirty kilometre front.
Extra crews were sent without the ACT asking for them, but it was all too late. The first house burnt to the ground around three pm. Many of the extra New South Wales crews wouldn’t arrive for hours.
AM’s been told of a number of instances in which New South Wales brigades around the ACT offered to help, only to be told by the ACT they weren’t needed.
One fire fighter says the alarm bells should have been ringing at ten that morning, when all brigades in the district heard on their radios that fire trucks and ambulances had to flee as a firestorm broke out in the Brindabella ranges, beginning its dash to Canberra’s suburbs.
A source says one brigade offered its services then and again later, but wasn’t asked to help until just before three pm, and that one of those New South Wales fire trucks managed to save twelve houses.
The view is, if offers of help had been accepted much earlier, many more houses could have been saved. And much of Stromlow Observatory, another source says, could have been saved if the ACT had ordered tankers and fire fighters to be well ahead not behind the fire front.
Everyone agrees fire fighters did all that was humanly possible, that losses were unavoidable because no one could have predicted the severity of such an extraordinary event, but the criticism facing the ACT authorities is they didn’t appreciate the gravity of what was facing them, despite crucial advice and concern from their colleagues; that they planned for the best, not the worst case scenario and were therefore seriously under prepared.
LINDA MOTTRAM: Alexandra Kirk reporting from Canberra and the ACT’s head of the Emergency Services Bureau, Mike Castle, and the ACT fire chief Peter Lucas-Smith have declined to speak to AM as they prepare a full report for the coroner.
Concern ACT fire probe not covered by legal privilege
There has been concern expressed about the upcoming ACT bushfire inquiry not being covered by legal privilege.
ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope says witnesses will not be covered by such a privilege and they will need to be careful to avoid defamation suits.
That contrasts with the coronial inquest into the four deaths where legal protection is provided.
Canberra lawyer and civil rights advocate Jennifer Saunders says an inquiry without priviledge may intimidate witnesses.
“If they were coming to be critical of other people or organisations then they might be afraid of saying that, and if they are not compellable witnesses – that is, if there is no supoena issued to force their attendance at the inquiry, then I am sure there will be people who just will not go,” Ms Saunders said.
14A. Tabling of reports
(1) The Chief Minister may lay a copy of a report or part of a report
submitted by a board before the Legislative Assembly.
(2) The Chief Minister may make a report or part of a report public whether or
not the Legislative Assembly is sitting and whether or not the report or part
has been laid before the Assembly.
(3) Where a report or part of a report is made public by the Chief Minister
before it is laid before the Legislative Assembly, the report or part attracts
the same privileges and immunities as if the report or part had been laid
before the Assembly.
16. Protection of members etc
(1) A member has, in the performance or exercise of any function or power as a
member in relation to an inquiry, the same protection and immunity as a judge
of the Supreme Court in proceedings in that court.
(2) A legal practitioner assisting a board or appearing on a person’s behalf
at a hearing before a board has the same protection and immunity as a
barrister has in appearing for a party in proceedings in the Supreme Court.
(3) Subject to this Act, a person summoned to attend or appearing before a
board as a witness has the same protection and is subject to the same
liabilities as a witness in proceedings in the Supreme Court.
INQUIRIES ACT 1991 – SECT 38
38. Publication of proceedings protected
No action or proceeding, civil or criminal, lies against a person in respect
of the publication of a fair and accurate report of the proceedings of a
hearing before a board (except a publication in contravention of a direction
under subsection 21 (3)).
McLEOD TO CONDUCT BUSHFIRE INQUIRY
The Commonwealth and ACT Ombudsman, Mr Ron McLeod AM, is to head the Inquiry into the Operational Response to the January Bushfires, Chief Minister, Jon Stanhope, announced today.
Mr Stanhope said Mr McLeod expects to be able to commence the Inquiry on 1 March, following his retirement as Commonwealth Ombudsman. Mr McLeod has been asked to report back to the Government by the end of June.
“That will enable the Government to act on any recommendations the Inquiry may make that have an impact on next summer’s bushfire season,” he said.
“It is critical that we are in the best position we can possibly be in to confront the threat of bushfires.
“We can never forget that four people died and we suffered heavy loss of private and public property in the fires last month.
“We have to learn what we can from that experience and make sure we have the greatest possible capacity to respond to such emergencies if and when they recur.
“The Emergency Services Bureau would in the normal course of events review its operational response to the January fires.
“But the impact of those fires was so enormous and widespread that the Government believes the Inquiry has to be broader than might have normally been the case, and should be conducted independently.
“There is a need to ensure the Inquiry does not conflict with the Coronial process that is already underway.
“And there is a need to act promptly.
“I am confident that the Inquiry, directed by the Terms of Reference we have developed, can meet these needs,” Mr Stanhope said.
A Committee made up of the Chief Executives of the Chief Minister’s Department, the Department of Justice and Community Safety, and the Treasury will provide Mr McLeod with any necessary assistance he may require.
A copy of the Terms of Reference is attached.
Released Monday 10 February 2003
Inquiries: Penny Farnsworth 62050434 (w) 0417 481 407 (m)
Terms of Reference
The disastrous ACT bushfires of January 2003 caused the deaths of four people and a heavy loss of private and public property. The Government proposes to undertake an Inquiry into the preparation for and operational response to those bushfires by the ACT’s emergency services in order to identify improvements that might enhance the capacity to respond effectively to large scale events of that kind.
The Inquiry will examine and report on the adequacy of the response to the bushfires by the ACT Emergency Services Bureau and its components (ACT Bushfire Services, ACT Emergency Services, ACT Fire Brigade and ACT Ambulance Service) and other relevant agencies, including ACT Policing, Environment ACT and ACT Forests with particular reference to:
1.
the preparation, planning and response to the bushfires and of strategies for the evaluation and management of bushfire threat and risk;
2.
ESB’s management structure, command and control arrangements, and public information strategy;
3.
the coordination and cooperative arrangements with other ACT and interstate, Commonwealth and non-government agencies, including utility providers, for managing such emergencies; and
4.
the adequacy of ESB’s equipment, communications’ systems, training and resources.
In undertaking its work, the Inquiry Team will consult closely with the Coroner conducting inquests into the deaths caused by the bushfires to avoid any interference with the process of inquiry being directed by her.
The Inquiry is also to advise the Government on the ACT’s overall structure for dealing with emergency situations, given the Territory’s unique context (geographic, population, financial and administrative), including the operation of the Emergency Management Act. In providing this advice, the Inquiry should make reference to arrangements that exist in other jurisdictions for dealing with emergencies.
The Inquiry Team will report to the Chief Minister by 30 June 2003, in order that relevant recommendations that may result from the Inquiry may be fully implemented prior to the onset of the 2003-04 bushfire season.