Page: 1
Transcript
Station:
SKY NEWS AUSTRALIA
Date:
07/02/2010
Program:
7:30 SKY NEWS (SUNDAY)
Time:
07:36 AM
Compere:
Summary ID:
S00037776412
Item:
BILL SHORTEN, PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY FOR
VICTORIA'S BUSHFIRE RECONSTRUCTION, TALKS ABOUT
THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF BLACK SATURDAY.
INTERVIEWEES: BILL SHORTEN, PARLIAMENTARY
SECRETARY FOR VICTORIAN BUSHFIRE RECONSTRUCTION
Demographics:
Male 16+
Female 16+
All people
ABs
GBs
N/A
N/A
N/A
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SUSANNE LATIMORE:
And joining us now is Bill Shorten, the Federal
Parliamentary Secretary for Victoria's Bushfire
Reconstruction.
Good morning to you Mr Shorten. As a Victorian,
what are your thoughts today?
BILL SHORTEN:
Oh, I think today's a very hard day. My thoughts
are with the families and individuals who are
effected by the bushfires. It's -
I think all
Australians will recall where they were when they
were hearing the news on the Sunday morning a
year ago. I was thinking late yesterday, the weather
wasn't anywhere near as hot. The conditions
weren't anywhere near like they were a year ago,
but the world - the eternity of regret which families
have gone through in the bushfire areas in the last
12 months is enormous.
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TERRY WILLESEE:
Mr Shorten, what's the Federal Government's role
been in the rebuilding process?
BILL SHORTEN:
The Federal Government, led by the Prime Minister
and Senior Minister Macklin have put in something
like $455 million to help with the reconstruction.
So we've been partnering John Brumby in Victoria.
So there's been a huge financial contribution, as
there should be I should say, as there should be. So
it's been to, basically, assist the Victorian
Government with everything they've needed for
reconstruction.
We recall in the days after the bushfire, it was
Centrelink and it was the army, and every aspect of
the Federal Government helping out. And since
then we've been involved with making sure that the
infrastructure starts getting going, that the funding
for the schools and the kindergarten centres, and all
the things which build a community.
SUSANNE LATIMORE:
You spent plenty of time in the fire zones during
this last year. What do you think is the general
mood of survivors?
BILL SHORTEN:
Well I think people go up and down. I can't
generalise and I - each individual and each family's
different. There have been 300 cases managers
working with 5000 people and the case managers,
as well as my own observations, report some people
have made a decision to rebuild. Others have made
a decision it's too hard, they don't want to go back,
Page: 3
you know, they're either under-insured or perhaps
they're at a point, an age in life, where it just seems
too daunting. There's a lot of other people who I
still I think a bit undecided.
I think the mood is resilient. The mood is positive,
but it's individual. As we can all imagine, there's no
-
you can't go to the cupboard and pull out the book
which says how to cope with this catastrophe, in
which so many people who died and property
destroyed.
So what we're saying to individuals is, whatever
you decide to do is correct. If you decide to go
back, we'll be there to help you. If you decide you
can't, that's fair enough too. And if you're not quite
sure and you're still not in a place where you feel
you can make that decision, you are under no rush.
People will be there to assist you going forward.
TERRY WILLESEE:
What do you say to the criticism that there has been,
that red tape is causing unnecessary problems for
people trying to rebuild?
BILL SHORTEN:
Yeah. Listen, I'm sure for some individuals they
find the process of applying for building permits,
they might find the new building standards
frustrating. So if an individual feels that's what's
stuffing them around, then I'm not going to tell
them they're wrong. That's their experience.
Page: 4
My observation, on balance though, is that the
things which are making things slower than people
would like; one, plenty of people were under-
insured, I mean, although again, no criticism. You
don't always expect to have this sort of disaster.
Two, some people are genuinely concerned about
moving back and I think also three, people have -
you know, you don't just sort it all out in a day, or
two days, three days, or a couple of months. So I
think there's a whole lot of factors in the mix.
I do know that what government's tried to do, at
local government level, state government level,
federal, is that we've funnelled all our money into
the bushfire reconstruction agency, ably chaired by
Christine Nixon. The role of government is to
make sure that we can rebuild liveable
communities. That work is underway. These
things will take time.
I've studied the Canberra fires of several years ago
and I've had a look at what happened at Cockatoo,
that's a little town in the Dandenongs which got
terribly damaged in the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires.
A year on, it was a lot of people still working out
how they felt and where they up to. But if you look
at those communities now, and in particular I look
at Cockatoo, it's got double the population it had in
1983. So good things will happen and we've just
got to be with people as they work through what
they want to do.
These communities are good places to live.
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SUSANNE LATIMORE:
Given the kind of examination you've been
through with all of this, are you happy with the new
current fire warning systems and the way they
work, because there has been a lot of discussion
about them and criticism.
BILL SHORTEN:
Oh, I'm just not an expert on the fire warnings. My
focus has been reconstruction. So my observations
are, like a lot of people, we become somewhat more
aware of fire warnings. With that caveat, I do
believe the new system seems to be better than the
old system. It's got more gradations, so it's got - it's
got six levels of warning.
I think though, with a warning system, it is about
everyone who's implemented it, having common
messages, not saying different things. I also think,
at some point, individuals have to focus and make
decisions on what they're doing with the warning
system. But again, I have to say, it seems to be
better than the old system, but I'm just not an
expert.
SUSANNE LATIMORE:
Just quickly, will you be attending the St Paul
service today?
BILL SHORTEN:
Well actually I'll be heading out to one of the
affected communities -
all the communities are
doing their commemoration today, in a low key
fashion, and I've been invited to attend one, so I
will. If I can get back into St Pauls in time, I will.
But my first priority will be just to be out in the
Page: 6
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community and just support, but in a way which the
local community. But I -
if I can get back into St
Pauls by 12 o'clock I'll certainly be there.
I think it is important that all Australians have the
chance to express their sympathy and I know,
travelling around the whole of Australia, that every
Australian really got behind supporting the bushfire
victims and St Pauls is a chance for all of us to, at
least, try and make some sense of what was the
most unimaginable disaster any of us could ever see
in our lifetimes I hope.
SUSANNE LATIMORE:
Indeed. Okay. Bill Shorten, I do thank you very
much for your time this morning here on Sky News.
BILL SHORTEN:
Thank you.
*
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End * *
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